Deborah Kanafani is a Lebanese-American woman, born and raised in New York. In her 20s, she was swept into the world of high-powered diplomats and dignitaries, marrying the handsome and charismatic Palestinian Marwan Kanafani, a former soccer star for the Egyptian national team who was then the director of the Arab League and who would go on to become Yassir Arafat's chief advisor. But Marwan Kanafani was a traditional Middle Eastern man, and as his wife, Deborah Kanafani was compelled to give up her friends and American sense of independence, dividing her time between Washington, DC, and the Middle East attending posh parties with world leaders but always kept on the sidelines.