Former President of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, asked, in a post on the “X” platform, whether the expected agreement in the region includes Lebanon in its entirety, calling for a reminder of the necessity of Israel’s withdrawal from all southern Lebanese territories, and an emphasis on consolidating the truce and the continuation of the role of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Jumblatt said: “Does the alleged agreement include all of Lebanon? Does the honorable state remember, even partially, the necessity of Israel’s withdrawal from all of the south and the emphasis on the truce, along with the importance of the international forces remaining?”
In another aspect of his post, Jumblatt criticized the use of the term “safe villages,” considering that it constitutes an attempt to avoid describing the reality of the Israeli presence in Lebanese territory, asking: “Is it possible to depart from the logic of safe villages, which is an invention to avoid mentioning the occupation?”
Jumblatt accompanied his post with a symbolic image that carried deep political dimensions. The picture shows a person sitting in front of a chessboard facing giant, recurring heads wearing crowns of chess pieces, while tears appear on their faces, in a scene that suggests a long struggle between the individual player and the major powers controlling the game.
The chessboard traditionally reflects the world of politics, negotiation, and wars, while the sitting person symbolizes the weaker party or the small state that finds itself facing regional and international decision-making centers. The repetition of giant faces suggests the continuation of the same approach despite the change in players and circumstances, as if the political scene is reproducing itself with different tools.
Also, the tears appearing on large faces may reflect the cost of conflicts and wars on all parties, or indicate a late realization of the consequences of the policies that led to the crises. On the other hand, the white and black chess pieces appear spread out on the ground, indicating that the battle has not been completely resolved and that the balance of power is still being formed.
In the context of Jumblatt’s post, the image can be read as a warning message against reducing Lebanon to the calculations of major regional settlements, or turning the south into a mere card on the negotiating table. It also suggests that Lebanon’s fate should not be determined through external understandings that ignore basic issues such as complete Israeli withdrawal, consolidation of the truce, and the role of international forces.
This symbolism is consistent with the content of Jumblatt’s post, which focused on the necessity of not ignoring the Lebanese file in the midst of regional understandings, and rejected the use of alternative terminology that might obscure the reality of Israeli control over parts of Lebanese territory, indicating that the “great game” should not overshadow Lebanese national constants.
