US teen held back from eloping to Mideast

A teenager who tried to secretly travel to the Mideast to visit a Palestinian man she met on the Internet will appear in Family Court on Thursday. A judge could place her under court supervision until she turns 18 next year.

A teenager who tried to secretly travel to the Mideast to visit a Palestinian man she met on the Internet will appear in Family Court on Thursday. A judge could place her under court supervision until she turns 18 next year.

‘‘She is not an adult,’’ said Prosecutor Mark Reene. ‘‘That is something that should not be lost—even though she is making a decision that could affect her adult life.’’

Katherine Lester, 17, had secretly developed a blossoming romance through messages sent on MySpace.com with a man who lives 6,000 miles away in the West Bank town of Jericho.

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Her secret was uncovered earlier this month, when she slipped out of her mother’s home in rural Michigan, intending to visit him, and made it as far as Amman, Jordan, before being sent home by US authorities. She had secured a passport by telling her parents she wanted to go to Canada with friends.

Lester is now living with her father, Terry, near Flint. A judge ordered her to surrender her passport and undergo counseling. In an interview last week on ABC’s Good Morning America, she declared her love for Abdullah Jinzawi, a 20-year-old Palestinian who works in his father’s business delivering goods to minimarkets.

They still talk online and she wants to marry him.

Authorities don’t think any local or state laws were broken in Katherine Lester’s disappearance, but the FBI continues to investigate.

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Back home, those who know Katherine continue to be stunned.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds up a map while speaking at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

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