Quote From: davewriterGood thing you mentioned the movie Not Without My Daughter because I was going to mention that film, asking if Katherine had ever seen it. Doesnt she know that once she marries Abdullah, she has to give up all her rights? Quoted from the Not Without My Daughter page on Wikipedia:
After many years of marriage to an Iranian doctor named Moody (Alfred Molina), Betty (Sally Field) is convinced by him to visit his family in Tehran for the first time. Although she has a lot of trepidation about traveling to the Middle East, her fear of violence is overcome by sympathy for her husband, who misses his family. After Moody swears on the Koran that everything will be fine, Betty agrees to go. The happy couple set out with their young daughter, Mahtob, on a planned two week family vacation.
Immediately upon arrival, Betty is forced to wear the traditional black veil, and is nearly arrested for inadvertently exposing some of her hair. Contrary to everything Betty had previously been led to believe, her husband's family turn out to be fanatically devout and conservative Muslims, who are very unhappy with the prospect of an American in-law. Towards the end of their scheduled holiday, her husband reveals that he has been fired from his job in the United States and that he has decided the family will stay in Iran. Suddenly, she sees a completely different side of him. When she objects to staying, he beats her and takes her credit cards, money and identification. She soon realizes that she and her daughter had became prisoners in her sister-in-law's home. She manages to call her own mother in the U.S. who provides her with an Embassy contact, before her husband cuts off her access to the telephone.
Betty sneaks out of the house and gets to the Swiss Embassy, where she learns that under Iranian law women have no rights concerning the children; her daughter is considered an Iranian citizen and cannot be taken out of the country without Moody's signed permission. Her husband becomes increasingly violent with her and she is watched around the clock by his unsympathetic relatives. Realizing that she will never have an opportunity to escape unless she plays the part of a devout Muslim wife, she finally reinitiates sexual relations with her husband and expresses an interest in converting to Islam. Eventually, her husband loosens his tight reign on her a bit, moving the family into his brother's home. Her traumatized daughter is enrolled in a Muslim school, where Betty is allowed to accompany her. In a class about Islam, Betty meets another American woman who is also being held hostage in the country. The woman ends up being horribly beaten by her husband for trying to mail a letter for Betty.
I fear that this will be Katherines fate indefinitely if she goes through with an actual wedding. To those posters who are indicting racism against Muslims, Ill have you know that this kind of thing is still happening with women in the Muslim/Middle Eastern culture. Women are expected to not only submit to, but also worship their men, and cannot even go outside without a man accompanying them. If you even talk about womens rights there, you will be punished severely. This is unlikely to change in the near future. Even in Canada, this same thing is true with East Indians, beating their wives for disobedience, as I was told years ago while visiting British Columbia.
Now, about this meeting Abdullah on MySpace, first off you cannot hold the Internet and MySpace responsible for what happened to Katherine. People have used this website for other purposes besides causing mischief and soliciting for sex. One of my newly-made Internet friends has a MySpace page entirely devoted to the C.O.P.S. cartoon (though said friend is 34 years old.) Yes, Katie is eighteen, but she obviously has the maturity of a 13-year-old, as evidenced by her actions. Where was the computer when Katie was conversing with this man? I hope it wasnt in her bedroom, as studies and family repeatedly stress against this. Always keep it in the family room, where parents can keep a strict eye on your Internet activities. If Shawn has followed this, then she shouldve been home with her daughter more often where she can keep close watch on her, monitoring her MySpace activity, and explaining to her, as both parent and friend (because a concerned friend would do this also) about stranger danger and just accepting new friends on her page without checking to see if they are legitimate.
I wouldnt have recommended taking away the computer entirely, (though I agree with the no cell phone deal) but I wouldve restricted access strictly for homework purposes (i.e.: research reports through Wikipedia, History reports and English projects on Word or WordPerfect. As we are in the middle of a war, I agree that Katie must be forcibly removed from the Middle East before anything happens to her. I just hope that she wont behave like Alex from last weeks show when and if they do.
I wrote the same in my post, I saw that movie, got really educated on different cultures, rights, no rights, scary how he changed after all the years they were married, her MOM should have made her see the movie, but.. kids don't believe anything we say
(Original Air Date: 11/14/07) When Shawn’s daughter, Katherine, was only 16 years old, she made international headlines when she ran away to the Middle East to be with 20-year-old Abdullah, whom she met on MySpace -- a man she never met in person but was convinced she was in love with. The FBI intercepted her in Jordan and escorted her back to the United States. Unbeknownst to her family, Katherine secretly continued a relationship with Abdullah via the phone and the computer for two years. After turning 18, Katherine said goodbye to her family and left to be with Abdullah in the war-torn Gaza Strip. Katherine’s family is terrified that she’s never going to return. They think Abdullah is lying to Katherine and possibly even brainwashing her. They say when she calls, something doesn’t sound right. Is she afraid for her life, but unable to tell them? Is she being held against her will? Dr. Phil talks with Katherine via satellite from Palestine, and has some hard questions for Abdullah about his real intentions with Katherine. Join the discussion.
