Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Actor Omar Sharif: "The Middle east Will Never Be Democratized"
FOX News, MEMRI-TV ^ | 6/9/08 | FOX News

Posted on 06/09/2008 11:40:19 AM PDT by hoagy62

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.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: actor; bush; iraq
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-64 next last
To: hoagy62

I’d bet that the USA net work Monk actor would agree with him too. Looks like they have the same last names and same roots.


21 posted on 06/09/2008 11:59:11 AM PDT by Bringbackthedraft (Where have all our Great Leaders gone? Certainly there must be one out there?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hoagy62
“After being asked what Bush's response was, the actor stated: “He didn't believe me.”

I don't either. If he is talking about people who hold power, yes. They will always say, “this the ways we have always been. This is the way it will always be.”

But I believe the individual, regardless of ethnic background, yearns to be free of domination, to have control to some degree of his future, to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

In Iraq, it may take a generation to weed out the old mind-set and allow a new, democracy minded leadership arise.

22 posted on 06/09/2008 12:00:34 PM PDT by elpadre (nation)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hoagy62
""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. Americans are ignorant."

Sorry, but I'm not gonna take that sh*t from some washed-up, has-been of an actor, who's only achievment in life is making others believe that what is in fact fantasy, real.

23 posted on 06/09/2008 12:02:29 PM PDT by Joiseydude
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Oldexpat
Remember, Iraqis are not Arabs. They are Persians. Arabs, however, have an almost genetic hatred of anything Western or associated with Israel's existence. It is going to take an Act of God to get a 2x4 big enough to overcome their hatred on steroids.

Persians, however, not only respected other cultures, but promoted the scientific advances and learning. They knew enough to send three wise guys when Jesus was born from what they had learned through Jews in Persia. Keep in mind, also, that Arabs are not among the great civilizations of the past, Saladin notwithstanding.

24 posted on 06/09/2008 12:04:36 PM PDT by Constitutions Grandchild
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Joiseydude

I believe he’s dead, Jim.


25 posted on 06/09/2008 12:05:33 PM PDT by Constitutions Grandchild
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: LibLieSlayer

Yeah! Screw that guy even though he might be right! I mean, who’s he to disagree with Bush! The nerve!

Actually, I think that arab countries can be democratized. But, it’s going to take two generations to get these people thinking on their own.


26 posted on 06/09/2008 12:05:42 PM PDT by Doohickey (SSN: One ship, one crew, one screw.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: AlaskaErik

Muslim and Arab are not the same thing.


27 posted on 06/09/2008 12:07:38 PM PDT by DB
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: hoagy62

The man is right.

The best we can hpe for is to make sure we put Sheiks in power we can trust.

Islam and democracy are incompatible.

So is Islam and civilization.

Too bad Shariff converted from the faith of his ancestors to a murderous cult - but then that’s life under Islam.


28 posted on 06/09/2008 12:08:02 PM PDT by ZULU (Non nobis, non nobis Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam. God, guts and guns made America great.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: prolifefirst
“He knew that that well was mine.”

A great scene. Very telling, as well.

29 posted on 06/09/2008 12:10:36 PM PDT by MJemison
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: GiovannaNicoletta
>>>>>>What’s Omar trying to say? That the Arabs are too primitive and barbaric to live like civilized human beings?

Sharif is saying that Arab's don't want to live under democratic rule. He's got a point.

IMO, I think the entire ME --- minus Israel --- exists in a vacuum more in tune with the 7th century AD, then modern times. Any efforts to bring democracy to the Islamic world is a futile.

30 posted on 06/09/2008 12:11:38 PM PDT by Reagan Man (McCain Wants My Conservative Vote in November --- EARN IT or NO DEAL !!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: hoagy62
I agree. I thought Pres. Bush's idea of bringing democracy to the Middle East was a bad one when I heard it. We want a stable Middle east with rulers favorable to our interests. That would be my foreign policy.
31 posted on 06/09/2008 12:11:47 PM PDT by McGruff
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hoagy62
“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 think Sharif is correct. Muslims hate modern western values, and thereby hate Christians and Jews. They would much prefer to wallow in their hateful religion and medieval Sharai law. By the way, there is no such thing as a “moderate Muslim”. We here in the U.S. need to get past that notion. Even Muslims who are professionals working for our most progressive corporations and who live here in the most upscale suburban areas hate our guts and covertly support terrorist organizations.

32 posted on 06/09/2008 12:12:26 PM PDT by snoringbear ('Just so to get the terminology correct; it goes like this; the federal government is the Pimp, the)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hoagy62
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.

I lived in the middle east for close to 5 years. What Sharif says is true - very true. Muslims (Arabs) are happy being told what to do, when to do it and not to think for themselves. They are "Group Think" and their leaders get their marching orders from the few leaders who can think for themselves and those people see EVERYTHING as us against "poor little them".
As long as we allow our politicians to treat them as responsible adults we will continue to lose. If we let our Military deal with them, unfettered by political correctness, we can easily stomp them into little pools of slime.
33 posted on 06/09/2008 12:13:36 PM PDT by jongaltsr (Hope to See ya in Galt's Gulch.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GiovannaNicoletta
What’s Omar trying to say? That the Arabs are too primitive and barbaric to live like civilized human beings?

Yes.

ABSOLUTELY


Haven't you learned anything from history?
34 posted on 06/09/2008 12:13:36 PM PDT by jongaltsr (Hope to See ya in Galt's Gulch.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: hoagy62

What a bunch of racist crap. If you raise slaves, you get slaves. If you raise free people, you get free people.


35 posted on 06/09/2008 12:19:34 PM PDT by rhombus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hoagy62

What does Omar Sharif know about the concerns and frustrations of young Arabs in some slum in Cairo or Gaza City? No doubt he spends most of his time jetting around Europe or visiting some deposed king’s palacial mansion. He probably gets gets his Middle East news from CNN and Rosie O’Donnell just like most other people in the West.


36 posted on 06/09/2008 12:21:51 PM PDT by haroldeveryman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: isrul

Then we lose.


37 posted on 06/09/2008 12:23:26 PM PDT by onedoug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: hoagy62

He’s right.


38 posted on 06/09/2008 12:24:40 PM PDT by Leftism is Mentally Deranged
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GiovannaNicoletta

Pretty much sums up what T.E. Lawrence said about the Arabs after WW I.


39 posted on 06/09/2008 12:25:21 PM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: hoagy62

I find advie from a bridge-playing-professional-story-teller difficult to take.

I also think he is dead wrong.


40 posted on 06/09/2008 12:28:47 PM PDT by TexanToTheCore (If it ain't Rugby or Bullriding, it's for girls.........................................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-64 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson