This message is about today's show with Katherine coming home. She is extremely lucky to have gotten out of Gaza. My sister is an American living in Israel and she has done so for over 30 years. Ramallah where Abdullah lives with his family is a hotbed of terrorists and run by Hamas, a known terrorist organization. While I have never been to Gaza myself, I have been to many, many parts of Israel including the Old City. When my sister and I walked alone up the Villa Dolorosa to the main gate from the Wailing Wall, there were many "catcalls" and remarks made both in English and Arabic when we passed by. I'm not saying that all Arabs are bad people; they are not. Most of them are hardworking and just want to provide a decent life for their families. It's their view of American women that I question, and Abdullah calling Katherine a "whore" and a "slut" is no great surprize to me. This is what happened to me and my sister, in the town I lived in while in New York and she was visiting me. We look like typical American women (younger then). We were in my car at the local gas station (which had been bought by some Arab men from a local man). It didn't make any difference to me that the station had been sold; I always got good service there so there was no reason for me to stop. My sister's 2 young children were in the car too.
I handed the young man money to pay for the gas and he said something in Arabic to another young man who came and took the money and went inside. My sister jumped out of the car yelling and running into the gas station office to speak with the manager. See, besides speaking fluent Hebrew, she also understands Arabic, and the young man who I thought was so nice had said to the other man in Arabic "Get the American whore her change, so she can leave." I was so shocked to find out what he had said. How many other women did he say that about? Here they are making money off of us, and they call us filty names!! Needless to say, I never went back there, and I let everyone in my semi-small town know what happened so they would not patronize that station. Katherine is very, very lucky to have come home. I've seen first hand how most Arab women are treated over there; they have very little freedom and are there primarily to have children and keep the house. The younger women who come from more "modern" families do attend college and have a different outlook than their predecessors, but the mentallity of the typical man in Gaza is that "they rule" the roost and the woman is virtually nothing. By the way, Abdullah not looking Dr. Phil in the eye or Katherine's family is so very typical; they can look you in the face (somewhat) and they will say anything to get you to do whatever they want, and I believe he was trying to intimidate Katherine again into coming back to Gaza. By the way, I do not dislike people of Arab decent or anyone practicing the Muslim religion; one of my best friends in college was an Iranian student who couldn't go back to Iran to see his family, and we studied together. He was a great friend!! Would like to hear from others who had similar thoughts about this Katherine stuff. Ladyliberty
Dr. Phil follows up with a family terrified for the safety of their loved one, Katherine, a young woman who flew to the Middle East to be with Abdullah, whom she met online. When she last spoke with Dr. Phil, Katherine promised that she would return to the United States within two days, but immediately after the show, she changed her mind. Find out what happened during two failed attempts to get Katherine home, and what finally got her on a plane. Then, Katherine’s mother, Shawn, and sister, Mary, say they were overwhelmingly relieved to have her back safe, so why didn’t they greet her at the airport? Katherine joins her family onstage and offers her tearful apologies. After hearing how her actions have affected her family and Dr. Phil’s staff, will Katherine go back to Abdullah, or will she have a change of heart? Join the discussion.
