By Debbie Schlussel

Over the past few months, actor George Clooney’s been photographed all over the place with Amal Alamuddin, a very anti-Israel Lebanese Arab who worked for the United Nations and represented Wikileaks’ anti-American former chief, Julian Assange. The Lebanese legal book she authored is extremely anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian. Alamuddin, who was Clooney’s date to the Obama White House last month, is not Muslim. She’s Druze, which is an offshoot of Islam. I’m familiar with Ms. Alamuddin (pronounced “Ah-lah-muh-DEEN”) and her family because I met her and them at the wedding of her cousin in the mid-1990s. They are extremely anti-Israel, and I was subjected to their absurd, non-stop anti-Israel questions and comments as the only non-Arab (other than the bride and her family) at a dinner the night before the wedding.

I went to law school with Alamuddin’s cousin (who has the same last name) and the cousin’s wife. I was friends with the cousin’s wife (who is not an Arab), and when they were dating in law school, I repeatedly heard from him about how he hated Israel and sided with the Palestinians and the P.L.O. Later, when I was invited to the the Alamuddin wedding, I was on the receiving end of more of that. As I noted, I was the only non-Arab at the pre-wedding dinner at Chicago’s now-defunct “Uncle Tonoose” restaurant. They all knew I was Jewish, and the conversations and questions directed at me were a mix of myself as both Jewish museum exhibit and target of anti-Israel questioning. Clooney’s future girlfriend was there, too, and she was in her late teens at the time (I was in my mid-20s).

The situation with the Alamuddin family was surreal, as I was asked repeatedly about “Jewish Europeans” “invading” Israel, er . . . “Palestine.”

That was funny, since at least a third of the Arabs at the table–the extended Alamuddin family and their friends–were blondes whose mothers were Swiss, Scandinavian, English, or of other European extraction. That’s especially true of those who were engaging in this cross-examination on alleged Jewish eugenics in Israel, er . . . “Palestine.” One of them, Nabil, was so blond he was what I would call “white blond,” and had bright green eyes. Many of these individuals lived in and were brought up in Europe in chalets, upper crust London flats, and at fancy boarding schools. They were more European than 75% of the citizens of Israel at the time–those who were kicked out of Arab countries and those who descended from families living in Israel for centuries. I was introduced to one of the guys at the table, an Alamuddin who was the first cousin of the groom and is also a cousin to Clooney’s latest moll. The guy was blond with blue eyes, as was his sister. I was told that this guy is a colonel in the Lebanese Air Force (such as Lebanon even has one of those). He and his sister grew up in Switzerland. But, yeah, let’s harp on the “evil European Jewish interlopers” in Israel. The irony–no, the utter hypocrisy–was thick.

The Alamuddin clan also asked me about alleged “racism” in Israel by Ashkenazic Jews (primarily Jews from Europe) against Sephardic Jews (primarily Jews from Arab countries, Africa, and Asia). I pointed out that, in fact, the reason there are so many Sephardic Jews in Israel is that they were treated a whole lot worse–expelled, and before that raped, murdered, and so on–by their “fellow” citizens in Arab nations. I also responded that they are treated a whole lot better in Israel (and nowadays, it’s really not much of a distinction at all anymore in Israel). Predictably, there was no response by the Alamuddins to how they and their countrymen, for instance, treated the Jews of Lebanon. If you need a refresher on this, check out my work on “What Happened to the Jews of Lebanon?” and learn about the deadly fate of Sephardic Jews like Ibrahim, Yehouda, and Yossef Benesti and Isaac Tarab and Haim Halala Cohen. Mr. Benesti’s “crime,” by the way, was handing out free candy from his store to children of all religions (including Muslims). Oh, and being a Jew. Needless to say, I held my own with this table of Jew-haters, whose disdain for and amusement with me, as the token “minstrel Jew” at the table, was quite apparent.

The Alamuddin family is a very wealthy, prominent Lebanese family that helped found Middle East Airlines and owned a good deal of Lebanon’s utilities. The family is also very prominent in the leadership of the Druze sect. The Alamuddin family patriarch, Sheikh Najib Alamuddin, became Chairman and CEO of Middle East Airlines in 1951, and he was very pro-Palestinian because a Palestinian-owned bank was a large investor in the airline. Alamuddin also blamed the 1967 Six Day War (and Israel’s impressive victory in it) for the near collapse of the airline. The Alamuddin wedding and reception I attended were so fancy and lavish, it looked to me like the festivities easily cost several hundred thousand dollars. All of it took place at Chicago’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Everyone there was “Sheikh” So-and-So or “Sheikha” So-and-So. It was like being at a Gulf State palace.

A little more about the Druze. Their religion is secretive, and they believe in the transmogrification of the soul. Their only similarities to Islam are the proscription against the consumption of pig products (which Muslims got from Judaism) and their observance of the two Muslim “eids” or festivals. Their bible is not the koran but the “Kitab Al Hikma” (Book of Wisdom). They are usually loyal to the country in which they live. One of my closest and most trusted friends is Druze and risked his life thousands of times to help Israel against the bad guys. Then, he did the same for America against the same bad guys. Whenever I’ve needed his help, he’s been there.

The Druze in Israel, for example, are very loyal to Israel and are allowed to serve in the Israeli Army. A Dr. Ruth Westheimer-narrated documentary, “The Olive and the Tree: The Secret Strength of the Druze,” about Israel’s Druze population (primarily in the Golan) is a great testament to Israel’s diversity and tolerance which is unmatched anywhere in the Middle East. (I could not find a link to the DVD for purchase, so the above link is to the companion book.)

However, the Druze in Lebanon, including the Alamuddins, are loyal to . . . ? Well, that depends. Sadly, the leader of the Druze in Lebanon, Walid Jumblatt, is something of a whore, and he’s all over the map. He’s gone back and forth from supporting Syria and Hezbollah, then the Christian-Sunni coalition opposing them in Lebanon. He cannot be trusted. Even though the Syrians murdered his father, Kamal Jumblatt, who was then the leader of Lebanon’s Druze, Walid Jumblatt had no problem allying with, aiding, and abetting the Syrians and their henchmen in Hezbollah. Some Druze are also active in the Syrian National Socialist Party, a terrorist group that set off car bombs and attacked Israel.

The Alamuddins have similar allegiances. But they are definitely very anti-Israel. As I learned in my own experience at the Alamuddin wedding.

And, so, I suppose it’s very fitting that far leftist, Obama superfan George Clooney would have a virulently anti-Israel Arab girlfriend.

I wonder if she gets satisfaction knowing that she’s just the latest sperm receptacle, er . . . concubine, slated for future disposal when he quickly gets sick of her and his Hollywood liberal elite Arabian Nights fantasy becomes boring. Just like all the others in the “George Clooney Harem Diaspora.”

Hmmm . . . maybe she should wear a Clooney slave bracelet. Just sayin’.