'Houston is Syria', says George

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'Houston is Syria quite honestly,' says George Clooney

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'Houston is Syria quite honestly,' says George Clooney

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'Houston is Syria quite honestly,' says George Clooney 0:53

George Clooney got serious at his Suburbicon press conference Sunday at TIFF, comparing the Syrian refugee crisis to the hurricane aftermath in the southern U.S.

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Honestly, when I first read the headline, I thought: 'Come on George! You can't compare this!' But when I started thinking about it, I guess he's right. Of course it's very simple, but you sometimes have to simplify issues to make them understandable.
I thought in the past: 'What would I do, how would I feel, if I needed to leave Middle Europe for some circumstances which are not my fault, and would need to live in a very rural area in China (I don't want to blame you, Sevens). People speak a totally different language and I can't read their writing either. They've got a very different climate, very different food and other habits I have to learn and will certainly fail in certain ways."

And to make clear that people who escape from a hurricane aren't that different from people who refuge from a war, shows just empathy IMO.

Carolhathaway - I guess it is true to an extent, but the people in Houston (and the Caribbean and Florida) are going to get tons of help - and nobody's shooting at them. When the storm is over they'll assess the damage and many of them will go back and rebuild. I don't know how many Syrian refugees will ever be able to do that.

No, but it's an effective headline when you're about to lead a nationwide charity telethon (lasting only an hour) to help all those people who have lost their homes and possessions.

Pretty sure he'll qualify it at a later date........

Here's the press conference:
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