George and Amal Clooney arrive at the American Film Institute’s 46th Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute To George Clooney. Photo: Getty
Amal Clooney has paid tribute to the nation that took her and her family in as they fled unrest in her native Lebanon, as she made her first-ever visit to Toronto. “I am a refugee,” the Beirut-born human rights lawyer told a sold-out crowd during her talk at the city’s Roy Thomson Hall on Friday. “If I had not had a hand extended to me by the UK government when my family was escaping the war in Lebanon, I wouldn’t have been able to grow up in a safe environment, get the education I have, or do any of the things that I have done. I am so grateful to have been able to enter a country that showed compassion to me. I wish that were happening in more places around the world.”
The barrister flew into Canada to attend arts festival Luminato, where she appeared on-stage in an interview with her father-in-law, Nick Clooney. The broadcaster quizzed his daughter-in-law, who wed actor and director George Clooney in 2014, on the issues she has supported and advocated for during her illustrious career, including a recent separation of migrant children from their families in the US.
Amal and George Clooney arrive at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle before the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle. Photo: Getty
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“It’s shameful. It’s not just illegal, it’s immoral,” said Amal, Toronto’s The Star reports. Her appearance came just days after Amal and George, who share 1-year-old twins Ella and Alexander, pledged to donate US $100,000 through their foundation to the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. The couple made the donation in an effort to help children being forcibly separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border as part of a “zero tolerance” initiative pushed by President Donald Trump’s administration.
“At some point in the future our children will ask us: “Is it true, did our country really take babies from their parents and put them in detention centers?” the couple wrote in a statement. “And when we answer yes, they’ll ask us what we did about it. What we said. Where we stood. We can’t change this administration’s policy but we can help defend the victims of it.” Their donation comes only a few months after the husband and wife donated US$500,000 to the March for Our Lives, in the name of their children.
During her talk with her father-in-law, Amal also touched upon the #MeToo movement, describing it as a “powerful force for change”. “Feminism to me is women having choices,” she added, according to The Star. The lawyer later revealed that while she does not care for the term “celebrity”, the upside of her role in the public eye has been the ability to “turn a spotlight and put it on something important”.
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