George Clooney has reflected on his Irish heritage.
The movie star discussed his family background while in discussion with Syrian refugees in Berlin.
The 54-year-old stressed the importance of remembering where you came from while he visited the refugee families with his British-Lebanese human rights lawyer wife Amal.
“I’m of Irish descent and in America, 100 years ago, we were refugees, my family,” he said.
Proud: George spoke to refugees in Germany about his Irish heritage
“Irish were treated terribly in America for a period of time and not accepted, and America learned to accept all of these ideas. It’s what our country is, a country of immigrants.”
The actor explained it’s important for people to always remember who they are.
“We have no recently done a very good job of remembering who we are,” he explained.
“And being here and talking with you is important to remind them of who we are. And who we have always been – which is you.”
Heritage: George stressed the importance of knowing where you came from
George was asked by Labour MP David Milliband what he learned from his conversation with the refugees.
“It’s very hard to dismiss a young child sitting on the ground crying when her mother is telling the story about how she left, how she grabbed her daughter and sat on the ground and said, ‘If I die, I want to die by a bullet because it would be quicker’,” he said.
“We, as what we like to think of as a civilised world and nation, always look around at the end of these tragedies and say, ‘If we knew, we would have done something’. And the reality of it is of course – we know.”
