Back in the US, Dabis' hometown was populated predominantly by middle-class families from German backgrounds. Upon her return from trips to the Middle East, she would be asked if there were telephones and cars back in Jordan. As a Palestinian American, Dabis refused to be seen as an outsider, and instead chose to assimilate to the culture she found herself within. However, when the Gulf War commenced in 1990, things changed for her and her family. Her father lost many of his patients, her mother was called an "Arab bitch", and her family began receiving death threats. Although Dabis has no brothers, a rumor began that her father's "son" was fighting in Saddam Hussein's army. It is also at this time that her family was investigated by the Secret Service because of a rumor that claimed her sister had threatened to kill George H. W. Bush, who was the president at the time.
