Love will save the day

I hope you’re sitting down for this news flash: “Poll Finds Discord Between the Muslim and Western Worlds,” headlines the New York Times. But said poll comes from the Pew Global Attitudes Project, which is one of the most reputable and interesting polling projects out there. And there is some interesting material beneath the uninformative headline. For instance, “only” 43 % of Americans said Yes to the question “Are Muslims fanatical?” 50% of French agreed, as well as a rather amazing 83% of Spaniards.

Meanwhile, asked whether non-Muslims were fanatical, 68% of Jordanians and a surprising 67% of Turks said yes. Only 24% of Pakistanis felt that non-Muslims were inherently fanatical.

Perhaps the most discouraging number cited in the article is that anti-Jewish sentiment reached 98% in Jordan and 97% in Egypt.

But don’t get too depressed about the clash of civilizations, for direct citizen action may yet save the day. ABC’s “Good Morning America” has featured the uplifting story of Michigan teenager Katherine Lester, who fell in love with Abdullah Jimzawi, a 20-year-old Palestinian, over… MySpace:

A Michigan teenager who met a man on the Internet and secretly flew to the Middle East to meet him before being captured by the FBI still plans to marry him, she says. Lester, who turned 17 on Wednesday, first met Abdullah Jimzawi, 20, seven months ago on the popular Web site MySpace.com. She said she fell in love with him, and together they devised a plan so the two could be together. Lester lied to her parents, told them she needed a passport to go to Canada with friends, and then disappeared from her mother’s home on June 5.

Katherine made it as far as Amman, Jordan, before the FBI picked her up. Both she and Abdullah remain adamant that they are destined for each other. For now they are communicating under family supervision, and a judge has confiscated Katherine’s passport. But next year Katherine turns 18 and if she still wants to marry the brother at that point, she can’t be stopped. Apparently, she feels no need to meet dude in person before they marry:

Lester says she doesn’t intend to try to meet Jimzawi in person until she is 18. She hopes he will come to the United States to marry her. “Now that our relationship is out in the open, I feel like I don’t have to go there to talk to him or to be with him,” she said.

And here’s my favorite part:

Lester did not say whether she would convert to Islam to marry Jimzawi, but said she was researching the Middle East and its culture at her parents’ suggestion.

I think this sort of citizen diplomacy is just what we need to avert the clash that extremists on all sides so desperately want to see go down. Thank you Rupert Murdoch, owner of MySpace, for opening these channels for new-millennium Romeos and Juliets to reconcile their warring tribes, even if their own love perishes in the process. Though to hear Abdullah, the romance is eternal:

Jimzawi also says talking is enough for now but sooner or later they will be together. “No one can stop us, you know,” he said. “I can wait forever and ever and ever. Â… Till the end of the world.”

Hail the power of green cards love!

20 thoughts on “Love will save the day

  1. how many people just started a myspace account after reading this? if only i had the patience for myspace, i’d probably be hitched by now.

  2. May be its love, may be its infatuation, may be its just plain stupidity (realised a few years down the road). And if so, we will have millions blaming MySpace for what was the result of 2 uncontrollable minds.

  3. I hate myspace as compared to the other social networking sites. Some pages make me want to puke and ooh I hate it when music starts playing automatically. Overall its childish, immature and ugly.

    I feel so much more better now.

  4. You actually have some Tom from Berkeley to thank, because he’s the one who started MySpace and brought it to fame. Rupert Murdoch just grabbed it when all the work was done for him.

    Why did the FBI have to go after the girl?

  5. Shruti,

    I think the FBI went after her because she was considered a minor. Plus, the parents probably found out and called the US Embassy in Amman.

  6. Wow and I thought MySpace was just a space of MIA to write out her thoughts in typoed and OMG WTF!-ed glory.

    Also there ain’t nothin’ wrong with a bit of greencard desire behind red-hot love.

    As a (total experiment! honest!) and in solidarity with a friend who had a profile posted by a well-meaning yet interfering uncle (sound familiar?…vaguely?….) on Shaadi.com, I made a joke profile on Shaadi to rebel against stereotypes of South Asian women.

    So far, ‘fat and black’ (her name and description) who has two kids from two previous relationships, is the lowest caste possible and has absolutely no grammatical sense has been inundated with requests from eager men, many of them fair skinned professionals, all because she lives in NZ…

    so I’d like to thank makes of all public internet spaces where people can bare their emo souls (MySpace) /green card wishes (Shaadi)/anger at ridiculous white heterosexual male upper middle class breaking news (this post).

    Go the bicultural relationships! Everyone knows cookies and cream is better cos it’s a li’l bit different 😉

  7. Tashie, that’s hilarious.

    After seeing the duo on GMA, I have to say I’m on the side of Romeo and Juliet. Now the FBI is after the guy, saying they want to ensure ‘there was no crime committed’. Give me a break. He’s 20, she’s 17, he sent her the money for the ticket, and they’re proclaiming their eternal love for each other in the muckiest, gushiest way possible, everywhere they can. Who hasn’t been there?

  8. tashie, I did the same thing! Except “I” was an overweight woman with several failed marriages and an extensive criminal record behind me. My husband to be had to contend with bisexual leadings, be capable of tending the kids as well as cooking, cleaning, etc.

    I can’t remember my screen name so I couldn’t go back and see if they rejected my account.

  9. Why do you refer to this guy as “the brother”, Siddartha? By this definition, we are all brothers. 🙂 As we should be.

    But i totally vibe off of love transcending the warring of tribes. Remember that Lauren Bush (“model” and daugher of ne’er do well Neil, and niece of Our Dear Leader) was dating some very eligible young Palestinian fellow for quite a while, if not to this day. Da family does not talk about this much – ’bout as much of they talk about one of the “little brown ones” (Jeb’s kid) being a crack addict. G’d on ya Lauren…

    “And oh there ain’t no love no, Montagues or Capulets. Just banging tunes ‘n’ DJ sets”

  10. “My husband to be had to contend with bisexual leanings” dxdydz, In one of my many shaadi.com ventures (don’t ask, they all involved some sort of drunken idea of “fun”), I tried searching for brides, you know just to check out the competition and what not 😉 Apparently shaadi.com won’t let you search for people of your own sex, they had some sort of snarky message that popped up whenever I tried. I was excited with my discovery and wanted to share.

  11. Didnt some Indian gal from Bombay try to cross over to Pakistan via LOC in her bid to marry some Pakistani guy she met over the internet?

  12. dxdydz (btw what does that mean?…)

    you legend! i love that site it’s a testament to the enduring power of too many bacardi+cokes and passive-aggressive meddling relatives in bringing out our creativity…bisexual leanings, that’s a nice touch.

    well done to you too, sleepy! 🙂 let’s keep that fake love burnin’ strong… although i think you can search for people of your own gender. that’s how i ended up making my profile because my mate was searching for her girl cousin’s to we could mock her, found her own instead which she didn’t know about, freaked out, and then we decided that we could play at this shaadi game too.

    But i totally vibe off of love transcending the warring of tribes

    Me too! Who doesn’t have half-Indian/half-something cousins that they are totally jealous of for their hotness. I have two little cousins whose Mum is a former Miss West Virginia with blonde hair and blue eyes, and whose Dad is a handsome Indian doctor (I know, sickeningly perfect)…v v unfair world.

  13. dxdydz (btw what does that mean?…)

    means small displacements in all the directions – x, y, and z. Maybe, the person is using a metaphor for their 2 cents/ 2 paisas/ 2 pennies. Me know, nothing.

  14. tashie:

    dxdydz (btw what does that mean?…)

    Kush:

    means small displacements in all the directions – x, y, and z.

    since they are multiplied together..it means “small volume”.

  15. tashie: dxdydz (btw what does that mean?…) Kush: means small displacements in all the directions – x, y, and z. since they are multiplied together..it means “small volume”.

    This appeals to my inner dork….

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