For 150 days, American law student Ilan Grapel was held in solitary confinement in an Egyptian prison, accused of spying for Israel and fomenting revolt in Cairo. Back home in Queens after a low-level prisoner swap, Grapel spoke to Mishpacha about his four nightmarish months when he envisioned himself doomed forever, revealing how an accidental foray into the world of the yeshivah helped him survive in Egyptian captivity.
Three powerful knocks on the door shattered the silence of the night which was already giving way to the rising sun. A moment later a group of plainclothes police burst into the $9-per-night room in one ofCairo’s seedier hotels flashlights pointed at the lump in the bed.
“Shu ismak?” The guttural tones demanded the identity of the young man who awoke in a fright. He handed them his two passports — one American the other Israeli.
“Ilan Grapel” a mustached man read off the name.
A standard inspection of the low-class hotels Grapel thought naively. He was unconcerned certain that the matter would be concluded when the men saw his passports were in order.
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