Location

The town of Baissour is located in the Qada’a of Aley, at an altitude of 750 m above the sea level. It is 25 km from Beirut and stretches across 600 hectares.

Population

The registered population in Baissour is estimated at 7,700 people all of whom belong to the Druze community. There are 5,100 voters distributed mainly and almost equally between the Aridis (2450 voters) and the Malaebs (2150 voters). The rest of voters belong to smaller families such as Nassar (32), Tarabay (50), Daqour (17), Houssaiky (42), Jaramani (28), Najib (10), Bou Harb (17) and Ghoussainy (10).

Families and Mixed Families

Baissour is home to 1190 families. Although the number of the Druze females married to non-Druze in Baissour is not known, the total number of marriages between the Druze and non-Druze is 9, which is only 0.75 % of all marital unions. Women married to Druze from Baissour are distributed by sect as follows:

• Sunni: 6
• Shia’a: 1
• Greek Catholic: 1
• Greek Orthodox: 1

Apart from both the known and the concealed circumstances surrounding the Rabih el-Ahmad case, the castration incident has thrust into the forefront the rigidity and uncompromising attitude still exhibited by certain religious communities toward inter-faith marriages in Lebanon. In this context, MP Walid Jumblat urged the Druze community to come out of its shell warning that the lack of openness to others would only feed hatred and pose a serious threat to the future. Jumblat added that the brutality exercised in Baissour requires religious scholars and intellectuals to take immediate action to wrench the Druze out of their isolation.