Omar Sharif Jr: ‘I’m Jewish, gay and Egyptian’

Posted on May 6, 2012 |

The elder grandson of legendary Egyptian actor Omar Sharif – American model/actor Omer Sharif Jr. (born 1983 in Montreal) in an article in gay publication, The Advocate, published on March 16, 2012 has claimed that not only he is gay but also born to a Jewish mother – making him fully Jewish according to rabbanical tradition. His father Tarek Sharif while studying in Canada had a Jewish girlfriend who gave birth to Omar Sharif Jr. There is no record that the ‘love birds’ were married when she got pregnant.

This Jewish bomb missed the intended target. The grandfather says he knew about Omar Jr. being gay and Jewish.

Omar Sharif Jr. also talked about the situation in Egypt after Hosni Mubarak. Sharif says he was very excited with the regime change in Cairo – but the victory of Islamic groups in the recent parliamentary elections have shattered his hope of a “more tolerant and equal society“.

“The vision for a freer, more equal Egypt – a vision that many young patriots gave their lives to see realized in Tahrir Square – has been hijacked. The full spectrum of equal and human rights are now wedge issues used by both the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces and the Islamist parties, when they should be regarded as universal truths. With the victories of several Islamist parties in recent elections, a conversation needs to be had and certain questions need to be raised. I ask myself: Am I welcome in the new Egypt?  Will being Egyptian, half Jewish, and gay forever remain mutually exclusive identities? Are they identities to be hidden? Sharif wrote.

I wonder, why Omar Sharif Jr. did not immigrated to Israel instead of the United States in 2011? May be, Omar agrees with Israeli journalist, Gideon Levi, that Israel, too, is not a democratic or tolerant society.
Omar Jr’s Jewish roots will certainly open big opportunities in Hollywood porn industry. He could become another Michael Lucas, the Russian-Jew Hollywood porn star. However, there is no reason for him to be scared of Islamists coming into power in Egypt – as Canadian Jewish author and blogger Eric Walberg believes that Islamic culture is most tolerant toward gays. While blogging under pen-name ‘Simon Jones’ from Uzbekistan, he wrote in 2006:

“I approve of the way gays are integrated traditionally in Muslim society – do your civil duty (marry, have a couple of kids, assimilate, or become a mystic or scholar if straight sex is just too much) and abstain from or carefully practice MSM discretely without disrupting the fabric of social life. Of course there are abuses, but a society which is built on peace, spirituality, and social responsibility will find that such abuses are minimal. Islam is fundamentally based on self-restraint – the purpose of the regular prayers and the impressive month of fasting each year is to strengthen one’s self-control. This aspect of Christianity has been destroyed by the West’s embrace of consumerism. It seems the war against Islam today intends to destroy this very resistance of Islam to western decadence, epitomized by gaylib“.

Hollywood actor Omar Sharf aka Michel Dimitri Shalhoub was born in Alexandria (Egypt) into a Catholic Labanese family in 1932. His box-hit movies were Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. He won two Golden Globe Awards. Omar Sharif almost lost his Egyptian citizenship due to his love affair with Israel-Firster Jewish actress Barbra Streisand who also dated Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau (d. 2000). Omar Sharif currently lives in Egypt but doesn’t practice any religion.

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