The Princess and the Marine
 

Did anyone see the Princess and the Marine last night on NBC? I thought it was really good and I couldnt believe that it was a true story. Especially what the Marine and the Princess of Bahrain have been through.

Oh, totally!

It was so sweet...and the guy that played Jason was adorable http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/eek.gif

That was Zack from Saved by the Bell!!!! (Mark-Paul Goselaar)

BTW: I've been to Bahrain (for real!) and it didn't look as nice as the Hollywood version!!

Looks like I should have watched more teeny-bopper shows in High School http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

I guess shes moving back to her country now and the marriage is on the rocks. Saw it on the news the other night. Apparently the ex marine says he still loves her. O well. LOL

Kevin

wait-she's moving back to her country?? are they not married anymore? what happened??:( i thought it was such a sweet story...

I saw an interview with these two on Oprah not so long ago--the real couple. On Oprah, they were saying that it actually might be dangerous for her to ever go back because she "disgraced" (their word not mine) her family. There was some concern about her being killed if she were to return. "Honor killing," I think they called it. Her death, some believe, is the only way to restore the family's honor. (Again, I don't agree, I am just relaying what was said.)

Also on the same show, "experts" were saying that the US government was having some diplomatic issues regarding her remaining in the United States. There was some uncertainty about her being allowed to remain stateside. Perhaps she, in fact, must go back? I don't know.

I wonder what's up? :confused: They seemed so dedicated and loving (of course one never knows the truth behind the smiles).

I didn't catch the movie, but would have liked to. :)

Jen

PS I found this after my initial post and thought you might be interested in the link to info regarding this story on the Oprah website:

http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/...0010215_b.html

From Oprah Website...

Follow Up: The Princess and the Marine

Wondering what has happened to Meriam and Jason since this show aired? Here's an update!

• Jason and Meriam worked out an arrangement with the INS to get her visa.
• In May 2001, Meriam was granted her green card and permanent residence in the United States.
• Meriam still faces immigration court charges that she entered the country without proper documentation, but federal officials will drop those charges.
• Meriam keeps in contact with her sisters via e-mail, and dreams of someday seeing her family again.
• Jason and Meriam now live in Nevada, and both hope to go back to school and live a normal life.

Re: The Princess and the Marine
 

dammit, i thought this was going to be like the buffalo and the indian . . . gettin my hopes all up, only to dash them in a blizzard of bad primetime melodrama.

Regarding ramifications of her marriage...
 

From CBS News/48 Hours

Love Crosses Borders

July 12, 2001--(CBS) Jason and Meriam Johnson insist nothing will ever come between them But there are powerful forces trying to pull them apart.

Their romance has become an international incident. In the name of love, they've broken laws and defied a royal family. Correspondent Harold Dow reports.

To Americans, she's a princess (her exact title is sheika) but by coming to the United States with Jason Johnson, Meriam al Khalifa may have put her life in danger. She could risk being sent to jail, she said.

"Because of her relationship with me, she should be lashed, executed, stoned, killed, shot," said Jason Johnson.

Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1...4-412,00.shtml

Interesting Piece on "Honor Crimes"...
 

From CBS News

Honor Crimes

-Pakistani Woman Risks Life To Flee Arranged Marriage
-In Name Of Family, Jordanian Man Kills Sister After Rape
-Old Tradition Persists Of Killing Women Who Bring Families Disgrace

New York, July 12, 2001 (CBS)--Humaira Butt, 29, is alive and living in America but she's a wanted woman, marked for death after escaping Pakistan in 1999 with the man she loves.

The rest of the story...
http://www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1...9-412,00.shtml

Miami1839 Is Right--They Split!
 

Last one, I promise...

From The Seattle Times' Website...

Marriage on rocks, Bahraini princess who fled to wed Marine goes home
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134347996_princess30.html

By Tony Perry and Phil Willon
Los Angeles Times

PHELAN, Calif. — The marriage between a former Marine and a member of the ruling family of Bahrain has hit the rocks, with the wife returning to her native land amid talk of a divorce.

Meriam Al-Khalifa Johnson flew to Washington, D.C., on Thursday to catch a flight back to Bahrain, which she fled in disguise in 1999 when her royal family objected to her clandestine romance with Jason Johnson, then a Marine stationed there on security duty.

She told friends last week that she and her husband are considering divorce and that her family was concerned for her safety because of violence aimed at people of Middle Eastern descent since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The couple had quarreled over money, with Meriam, 19, telling Jason, 26, to get a job, and him preferring to attend college.

"I love my wife deeply," Johnson said at his mother's home in rural San Bernardino County. "This was a surprise to us all ... We had some general aches and pains in our marriage but nothing bad, nothing like some of our friends. She never complained. She never said anything."

The couple had been living in Las Vegas since Al-Khalifa won a highly publicized fight with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to remain in the United States.

In May, the INS, under a program open to the spouses of U.S. citizens, issued Al-Khalifa a green card allowing her to remain permanently in this country. A divorce could cause her to lose that right. Under INS rules, a green card issued to the spouse of a citizen is provisional for two years.

If the marriage dissolves within two years, the green-card recipient has to assert that it ended because of abuse or intimidation. The rule is meant to protect women from remaining in dangerous marriages for fear of losing their green cards.

Also, if Al-Khalifa, whose father is a second cousin of Bahrain's ruling emir, stays in that country for 12 months she will be considered to have abandoned her residency in the United States, which will mean forfeiture of the green card.

To escape Bahrain, Al-Khalifa dressed in oversized clothes and pulled a New York Yankees cap over her eyes. Johnson and his buddies provided her with a phony Marine identification card, which helped her fool gun-toting airport security.

But by the time the couple landed in Chicago, the Bahraini government had petitioned the State Department to meet their plane and send Al-Khalifa back.

The dispute became a tricky international issue because of the close ties between Bahrain and the United States. The island nation in the Persian Gulf is one of this country's top allies in the region and provides a home port for numerous Navy ships.

Once back in the United States, Johnson was assigned to Camp Pendleton. The couple married in a chapel on the Las Vegas Strip and settled in base housing. Although she had lived in luxury in Bahrain, surrounded by servants and maids, Al-Khalifa insisted she enjoyed cooking and cleaning for her husband.

Busted in rank for having forged the Marine identification card, Johnson received an early discharge.

In seeking to stay in the United States, Al-Khalifa said she faced discrimination and physical harm if she returned to Bahrain because of animosity among the population toward women who socialize with non-Muslims.

Bahraini officials emphatically denied that she would be harmed. The INS sidestepped that issue by providing the green card, which kept the case from going to a political-asylum hearing.

An official at Bahrain's embassy in Washington, D.C., said Friday that Al-Khalifa had requested assistance in returning to Bahrain this week. The official declined further comment, calling the issue a family matter. The couple — young, good-looking and articulate — proved irresistible to the media. A television movie billed as "Romeo and Juliet set against Desert Storm" was shown on NBC.

The couple also made the rounds of television talk shows. "Oprah is going to be (annoyed)" at hearing of the marital estrangement, Johnson told his attorney Friday.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...rincess30.html

:( Well that just sucks!

Read the PRINCESS TRILOGY books by Jean Sasson
 

http://www.jeansasson.com/

These books are amazing and tell the story of a Saudi Arabian Princess (not Bahranian)...
Books are (in order):

http://www.jeansasson.com/images/princess-new_small.jpg

1)Princess
2) Princess Sultana's Daughters
3) Princess Sultana's Circle (I have to read that next).

It does touch on the topics of "Honor Killings" and put it this way, when you read these books, you will have a renewed and EXTREMELY GRATEFUL feeling for the privileges that you have and enjoy in the Western World...