Lebanese Politician Walid Jumblatt: Iran, Turkey, And Israel Are Benefiting From The Disintegration Of The Arab World; Iran Views Lebanon As A Missile Base

Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, said in a December 8, 2020 interview on Al-Jadeed TV (Lebanon) that Iran uses Lebanon as a missile base and an "arena" for its fight against Israel and America. He also said that Iran, Turkey, and Israel are benefiting from the "disintegration" of the Arab world and that the Arabs must reach internal agreement before they start to "lose everything." Jumblatt added that Israel is "invading" the Arab world and that normalization had already taken place.

Walid Jumblatt: "Iran treats Lebanon today as an arena where it can improve its [negotiations] terms in its confrontation with the Americans and the Israelis. If you want me to describe Lebanon, I would say that we are a missile base. These missiles could be launched or not – this is the game of nations.

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"Hizbullah operates within a certain reality. It set the liberation of the Shebaa Farms and other [areas] as a primary goal, but maybe their political culture is different from ours when it comes to Lebanon. It is true that we waged internal wars at some point, but we respected the concept of Lebanon [as a state], and this concept remained.

"Moreover, in the days of the Syrian rule [over Lebanon], in the days of Hafez Al-Assad's rule, we were a satellite of Syria. A satellite state, but still a state. The concept of the state remained intact. It is true that the Syrians put their people in leading positions, especially in the security agencies, but they talked about 'one people in two states.' This is important. It was between 1990 and 2000."

Interviewer: "Those who hear you might thing that you miss the days of the Syrians, as if they were better than today."

Jumblatt: "I am talking about historical facts. Therefore, one should ask the Iranians if they follow the same policy [as the Syrians did], or rather gain from this great Arab collapse, retreat, and disintegration. This is the question."

Interviewer: "So, you are saying that our destiny is in the hands of the Iranians, and not the French or the Americans."

Jumblatt: "[It is in the hands of] the Iranians, the Americans, and don't forget Israel. Israel is... Who rules the Arab world today, or what is left of it, and who benefits from the disintegration of the Arab world? Iran, Turkey, and Israel. Israel is invading the Arab world today."

Interviewer: "Are you against the normalization by some Arab countries?"

Jumblatt: "Normalization has already taken place. We must hurry and reach internal agreement so that we do not lose everything."