Actor Omar Sharif Says Arab Nations Will Never Be Democratized

FOX News ^ | June 8, 2008 | AP

[A_perfect_lady]

Egyptian actor Omar Sharif — best known for his film roles in Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago — reportedly blasted U.S. policy in Iraq and said Americans are ignorant.

According to The Middle East Media Research Institute, Sharif said the "East" will never have a democracy because people like him "prefer to go to the neighborhood sheik." MEMRI —a Middle Eastern press monitoring organization — posted an interview of Sharif that aired on the Al-Hayat TV network.

"I lived in America for a long time. Only 10% of all Americans have a passport. In other words, 90% never left America," said Sharif. "They don't know anything."

Sharif said that he spoke with President Bush before the beginning of the Iraq War and told him that Arab nations are made up of sects resistant to becoming democratized.

"I said to Bush, even before he entered Iraq: Forget about all that. We, the Arabs... We are not like [regular countries]," said Sharif. "You will drown there.

After being asked what Bush's response was, the actor stated: "He didn't believe me."

[Eurale]

I thought he was dead.

[samtheman]

He has a passport. I guess that makes him smart.

[alecqss]

Another great thinker from Hollywood speaks his mind... Are the writers on strike again or just shirking their duty?

[SolidWood]

After being asked what Bush's response was, the actor stated: "He didn't believe me."

Well, Bush was right.

[yldstrk]

And what exactly, Uh..Omar, are your credentials....oh, you are an....actor? Strp aside, partner, back of the line.

[Yossarian]

Actors - is there anything they don't know?

[dayglored]

> "We, the Arabs... We are not like [regular countries]," said Sharif.

Well, he's right on that account.

They're insane.

We Americans may be crazy, but we're not insane.

[AmericaUnited]

maybe this bozo and Carter can do a world tour together

[Argus]

the "East" will never have a democracy because people like him "prefer to go to the neighborhood sheik Democrat party boss."

[LibFreeOrDie]

I’m sure Sharif could have had the same acting fame and fortune if he’d just stayed in the Arab world. /s

And what a nice way to say “Thank You” to all the Americans who paid to see his movies over the past 40 years! Double /s

[CRBDeuce]

Wonder who sharif’s neighborhood sheik is? Hollywood entertainment at its best! THE kalifornia message continues to be “depopulate while you still can!”

[krb]

. Only 10% of all Americans have a passport. In other words, 90% never left America

That's why we went ahead and invented the Internet. We're cool like that :-)

[FormerACLUmember]

Burnt out compulsive gambler, forever in debt.

[Names Ash Housewares]

I have a passport.

I noticed a lot of Iraqi’s eagerly went to vote in their new democracy. But I am not an actor, what do I know?

[wardaddy]

actually I agree with Omar here.

some cultures are either not ready or don’t want democracy

it’s not by accident it’s a form of government rarely practiced like our’s

many democracies and republics today are anything but

it worked here for a while but will ultimately fail due to it’s own largess

you give those who don’t contribute the same power as those that do and it can’t last

toss in deconstruction of the very culture that made the nation great to begin with and you can turn off the lights

which will happen here baring a cataclysm

[Cicero]

Omar Sharif, the Franco-Arabic actor best known for playing Sharif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and the title role in Doctor Zhivago (1965), was born Michel Demitri Shalhoub on April 10, 1932 in Alexandria, Egypt to Joseph Shalhoub, a lumber merchant, and his wife, Claire. Of Lebanese and Syrian extraction, the young Michel was raised a Roman Catholic. He was educated at Victoria College in Alexandria and too a degree in mathematics and physics from Cairo University with a major. Afterward graduating from university, he entered the family lumber business.

Before making his English-language film debut with "Lawrence of Arabia", for which he earned him a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination and international fame, Sharif became a star in Egyptian cinema. His first movie was the Egyptian film Siraa Fil-Wadi (1954) ("The Blazing Sun") in 1953, opposite the renowned Egyptian actress 'Faten Hamamain'whom he married in 1955. He converted to Islam to marry Hamamain and took the name Omar al-Sharif. The couple had one child (Tarek Sharif, who was born in 1957 and portrayed the young Zhivago in the eponymous picture) and divorced in 1974. Sharif never remarried.

Beginning in the 1960s, Sharif earned a reputation as one of the world's best known contract bridge players. . . .

Trivia

5 August 2003 - Received a one-month suspended sentence and a $1700 fine for head-butting a police officer in a French casino in July.

He is both author and co-author of several books on Bridge and has licensed his name to a Bridge computer game. . .

Ordered by a US court in Beverly Hills, California to take an anger management course for punching a parking attendant who refused to accept his European currency on 11 June 2005. Sharif was not present for the hearing. (13 February 2007).

[freekitty]

As long as they are kept under chain and lock along with their minds; they won’t.

[USNBandit]

"Only 10% of all Americans have a passport. In other words, 90% never left America," said Sharif. "They don't know anything."

I wonder what those percentages are in Egypt, the land of enlightenment?

[stevem]

I thought he was dead.

It sounds as though he may be.