Katie Miranda Podcast Katie Miranda

Abdullah Alrebh has a Phd in Sociciology from Michigan State University and an MA in Arabic literature from King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. He's a professor of Sociology at Grand Valley State University.

I visited Saudi Arabia for the first time in December 2021 because my husband is from there and we took our toddler there for the first time. I was really quite struck by some glaring differences in the cultures but there's one I want to talk about specifically today; the fact that homelessness does not exist there.

The reason I interviewed Abdullah is that the way the problem is discussed in America is about what to do with homeless people, how to get them off drugs and off the street. There's never a discussion about what has failed in our society, our culture, our family structure, and our laws that has led us to this point.

I met Jonas Caballero in 2006 in the West Bank when we were both human rights workers in Hebron. We became inseparable and a mutual friend even referred to him and my shadow and vice versa.

In 2007 he was abruptly arrested by Israeli border police and deported from Palestine.

Eventually, he got a Fullbright scholarship to finish his Master's degree at Cambridge.

Then I didn't hear from him at all for about 8 years.

I heard bits and pieces. I heard he was in a coma and almost died, that he was into drugs, and that he was put into prison for selling drugs.

Then, out of the blue, I got a call from him in March of 2020. He had just been released after serving 2 and a half years out of a 3-year prison sentence. This interview is my attempt to find out what happened and how he got sober and how he got into a career in law. I hope his story inspires you.