Kamal Joumblatt Section
Let me start talking about my biggest hero he is "Kamal
Joumblatt" the Founder of the Prograssive Socialist Party of
Lebanon. Here is a prief autobiography about "Kamal
Joumblatt":
Born on December 6, 1917 at Moukhtara, he studied law and philosopy
at the Sorbonne in France and then at the Jesuit University in Beirut.
Elected for the first time to the Chamber of Deputies in 1946. later in
the First of May 1949 he founded the Progressive Socialist Party, which
brought together many of the left-wing Deputies and adopted a firm anti-imperialist
stance. Shortly afterwards, Joumblatt put his socialist principles into
practice by distributing large tracts of his family's lands to poor peasant
farmers.
Struggled consistently for a Lebanese political system that would give
equal rights for all the lebanese people to get proper education, medical
care, provide jobs and the freedom of speech. By 1975 he become the major
figure on the left in the country. As leader of the Lebanese National Movement,
he played a central role in the Lebanese political life. Was the leader
of the left forces in the Civil War against the right parties whom where
supported by isreal to destroy Lebanon. In this Civil War "Kamal
Joumblatt" leads the Progressive Socialist Party to fight for
the independence of Lebanon. On March 16, 1977 he was brutally murderad
by the regime which supported the right parties. His dedication to the
Lebanese idea was beyond question, with his death the Arab World has lost
one of its truly great figures. "Kamal Joumblatt"
death was an insult to the future (as what a French newspaper wrote).
From this prief autobiography there emerges a moving portrait of one
of the Arab World's most engaging political figures - a man warm and strong,
complex and idealistic. committed always to social justice, genuine independence
and the cultural renaissance of the Arab World.
- Born in Mukhtara - Chouf on the 6th of December 1917 .
- His father Fouad Joumblatt , director of the Chouf Area , was
assassinated on the 6th August 1931 .
- His mother , Nazira Joumblatt , after the death of her husband ,
played a very important political role for over a quarter of a century .
- In 1926 , he joined the Lazarus Fathers institute in Aintoura where he
completed his elementary studies in 1928 ; achieved his high school
diploma , Lebanese & French , scientific & literary at the same time in
1936 ; and his philosophy diploma in 1937 .
- In France , he joined the faculty of Arts at the Sorbonne University ,
and achieved a degree in Psychology & Civil Education , and another
degree in Sociology .
- In 1939 , he returned to Lebanon after the out break of WW II where
he continued his studies at St Joseph University , and achieved his law
degree in 1945 .
- He practiced law from 1941 to 1942 and was designated then as the
Official State Lawyer for the Lebanese Government .
- In 1943 he appeared on the Political Scene after the death of his
relative Hikmat Joumblatt .
- In September 1943 , he was elected as deputy for Mount Lebanon
for the 1st time . During that period , he was an opponent of the
reigning constitutional bloc party , headed by the late presitend Bishara
El Khoury .
- In 1946 , he was appointed as Minister of Economy , Agriculture &
Social Affairs .
- He played a major role in the creation of the Lebanese Social
Movement .
- In 1947 and in spite of his election for the 2nd time as deputy he
resigned from the government protesting against the fraudulence
during the elections .
- He protested against the oppression and corruption during Bishara El
Khoury’s reign and was the most outstanding leader among those
founding the " National Socialist Front " that succeeded , one year later
, in bringing down Bishara El Khoury . Kamal Joumblatt was an
adamant defender of intellectual and political freedom .
- On the 1st of May 1948 , he married May , daughter of prince Shakib
Arslan . Their only son , Walid , was born on the 7th of August 1949 .
He officially founded the Progressive Socialist Party on March 17th
,1949 and declared its constitution on May 1st 1949 .
- In the name of the Social Progressive Party , he called for the 1st
convention of the Arab Socialist Parties , that was held in Beirut in May
1951 .
- In 1951 , he was reelected for the 3rd time as Mount Lebanon’s
Deputy .
- In 1952 , he represented Lebanon at the Cultural Freedom
Conference , held in Switzerland .
- In August 1952 , he organized a National Conference at Deir El
Kamar , in the name of the National Socialist Front , calling for the
resignation of President Bechara El Khoury . He then led a democratic
fight that resulted in Bechara El Khoury’s resignation in that same year
.
- In 1953 he was reelected as a deputy for the 4th time .
- He founded the Popular Socialist Front in 1953 and led the
democratic opposition against Camille Shamoun . Shamoun had tied
Lebanon to the policies of the USA ,GB, Monarchist Iraq , Turkey and
Pakistan imperialist coalitions that was against the Arab Liberation
trend headed by J.A.Nasser .
- He participated in the conference of the Arab opposition parties , held
in Beirut in 1954 .
- He supported the Egyptian struggle against tripartite aggression in
1956 , and was one of Nasser’s permanent allies .
- In 1956 ,he failed for the first time in the parliamentary elections due
to the falsification of his results by the authorities .
- He led the national uprising of 1958 politically and militarily , against
the reign of Camille Shamoun , who hed tied Lebanon to the afore -
mentioned imperialist coalition . The uprising ended with a settlement
by which Fouad Shehab was appointed as new President .
- He chaired the " Afro - Asian People’s Conference " in 1960 .
- In 1960 he founded the " National Struggle Front " that gathered a
large number of nationalist democratic deputies .
- In 1960 , he was reelected as deputy for the 5th time & the "National
Struggle Front " won 11 seats at the parliament .
- From 1960 to 1961 he was Minister of National Education .
- In 1961 he was Minister of Public Work & Planning .
- From 1961 to 1964 he was Minister of Interior Affairs .
- On the 8th of May 1964 , he won at the parliamentary elections for
the 6th time .
- In 1965 , he placed the foundations of the Progressive Parties and
forces , and Nationalist Personalities Front .
- In 1966 he was assigned as Minister of Public Work and Minister of
PTT .
- He represented Lebanon at the Congress of Afro-Asian Solidarity ,
and presided the parliamentary & popular delegation to the People’s
Republic of China in 1966 .
- He supported the National Palestinian cause and backed-up its
struggle . He regarded it as the main national issue .
- On the 9th of May 1968 he was reelected as a deputy for the seventh
time .
- From 1969 to 1970 , he was Minister of Interior Affairs .
- In 1972 , he was awarded " Lenin’s Peace Decoration " .
- He was reelected as deputy for the eighth time , in 1972 .
- He was chairman of the " Arab Commission for Nasser’s
Commemoration " , in 1973 .
- In 1973 , he was unanimously elected as Secretary General of the
Arab Front , that was contributing to the Palestinian revolution .
- In 1975 - 1976 , he confronted the Israeli isolationist conspiracy
against Lebanon . He founded and led , till the day of his assassination
, the " Lebanese Nationalist Movement " .
- In August 1975 , he declared the program for the democratic reform
of the Lebanese Political System .
- He wrote more then 1200 editorials in both Arabic and French .
- He held hundreds of press conferences and delivered hundreds of
political speeches in international , regional and local conferences , and
in the Lebanese Parliament .
- He enriched the Arab and Worldwide library by his political ,
philosophical and literary work ; 25 of his books and manuscripts have
been published so far , while many remain unpublished yet .
Kamal Joumblatt Articles
Why
am I a Socialist ?
I am a socialist
because I love justice , fraternity , and
freedom ; because I feel that if I am
fair to others , I am being fair to myself , and if I unfair to others
, I am unfair to myself ; because I seek accommodation with everybody and
all - encompassing agreement , like a musical phrase which can only be
complete if all the different constituent sounds are balanced accommodate
each other . Similarly , agreement and harmony must reign between people
on the one hand , and the rights that they have by law and by natural justice
on the other.That is what we mean when we speak of justice .
I am a socialist
because I believe that work
with no capital is not fulfilling , and that
work - the capacities of the individual who is himself one of those natural
forces - is essential to capital . Capital remains a potential which cannot
be realized unless it is transformed into work . Work is inseparable from
capital ; from any capital watsoever , for without capital there can be
no work , since work is itself the realization of capital , of unused
productive capacity or potential . It is class attitudes, both on the part
of workers and on the part of employers , which have separated capital
and labour and established a distinction between them . But man’s thoughts
, his body , and the money he earns through his work are inseparable from
the thoughts , body , and wages of others , since they all exist as part
of capital’s potential .
The goal of the Socialist
Progressive Party is not to exacerbate class attitudes nor to adopt them
as a method or an objective , but rather to eliminate class affiliation
in conformity with our Party’s Charter :
“The historical
struggle between classes , which has so exhausted the most vigorous forces
and potentialities of the human race and has dissipated so much human effort
in differences and constant internecine strife , must be overcome . These
efforts , firsces , and potentials must change their course and operate
in concord to understand and master the secrets of natural and the soul
, completing the course of evolution and fulfilling mankind . That can
only happen if we manage to force individuals and communities who are essentially
united in a stable society which is conscious of its own destiny and based
on love and reconciliation ; that is to say on the power of evolution in
its totality “(*).
I am a socialist
because I beleive that evil , all evil , both in the communist system and
under what is called individualistic capitalist system , stems from the
indiscriminate separation between capital and labour ; a separation which
ensures the primacy of one social group another in both systems .
I am a socialist
because I believe in the need for synthesis , agreement, and unity between
labour and capital , two elements which cannot be separated naturally or
spontaneously .
I am a socialist
because I believe that socialism is a faith which must become entrenched
in men’s hearts before it can be implemented in systems and institutions
.
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* The
Charter of the P.S.P. - P:50
