Here's something..
We, as a people, seem to have our heads so firmly wedged up our asses that someone among us thinks that using Richard Gere to promote voter participation in Palestine is not completely absurd.
"Hi, I'm Richard Gere and I'm speaking for the entire world. We're with you during this election time. It's really important. Get out and vote," Gere said in the advertisement. He repeated the final phrase in Arabic.
But many voters, already struggling with the labyrinthine politics of the West Bank and Gaza, say they have never heard of the actor who swept Debra Winger off her feet as a dashing navy officer in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman and were even less interested when they were told he's an American.
"I don't even know who the candidates are other than Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas), let alone this Gere," Gaza soap factory worker Manar al-Najjar said.
"We don't need the Americans' intervention. We know who to elect. Not like them - they elected a moron."
They're so much smarter than we are. Not only do they realize that America really isn't all that impressive lately, but they don't even care about movie stars.
Imagine if some random Bollywood star popped up on our TVs during an election and reminded us that it was very important for us to get out and vote, that we were witnessing an historic moment and the world was watching us.
Come to think of it, maybe that wouldn't have been such a bad idea.
