New York, NY – US-Israeli Man Accused of Spying Returns to NYC

    9

    Accompanied by his mother, Irene Grapel and Congressman Gary Ackerman, right, Emory University law student Ilan Grapel arrives home from Israel to Kennedy Airport on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, in New York.  Grapel was arrested in Egypt last June and accused of spying for Israel and the U.S. State Department. He was freed in exchange for 25 Egyptian prisoners. Grapel's attorney, Abbe Lowell follows in the background. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)New York, NY – A n Emory University law student who was arrested months ago at a demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, accused of being a spy and locked in an Egyptian jail for the summer returned home to New York City on Saturday as part of a prisoner swap that also freed 25 Egyptians held in Israel.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    Ilan Grapel, 27, arrived at Kennedy Airport looking tired and thin, but wearing a huge smile.

    He said that after spending more than four months behind bars in Egypt, he had a new appreciation for the American legal system.

    “All of a sudden, the Bill of Rights is not something for the history books,” he told reporters gathered in the terminal.

    Grapel, who holds joint U.S. and Israeli citizenship, was volunteering for a group aiding Sudanese refugees in Egypt and staying at a youth hostel when he was detained by police who saw him carrying a protest sign at a rally on June 12.

    He was accused of spying for Israel, then held for months without formal charges or a trial while U.S. and Israeli officials worked to gain his release.

    Grapel said he was no spy, although he does have the type of resume that makes intelligence services drool. The high achiever graduated early from Johns Hopkins University, speaks fluent Arabic and Hebrew, served in Israel’s armed forces and had internships with Israel’s high court and in the Queens district office of U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman.

    After Grapel’s joyful reunion with family members at the airport, Ackerman said the student was more like “the kind of kid who might have been at Zuccotti Park,” referring to the plaza that is home to New York City’s Occupy Wall Street encampment.

    Israel has also denied that Grapel was a spy.
    Grapel said he was kept in solitary confinement during his imprisonment, but was treated and fed well, and allowed a visit from his mother, Irene.

    “I can only say that for four and a half months, we were heartbroken,” she said after accompanying her son home Saturday.

    Grapel was released was from jail Thursday. He traveled to Israel, where he said he was given a hamburger and red wine by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and then departed for the U.S. early Saturday morning.

    The Delta flight was delayed for several hours due to a mechanical problem, and was nearly canceled until the flight crew voted to work extended hours just so Grapel could get home, he said.

    Grapel thanked Ackerman for lobbying Egypt’s ruling military council for his release. He said it wasn’t the first time the congressman had written him a recommendation, but he never thought he’d have to recommend that he wasn’t a spy.


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    9 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    homell
    homell
    12 years ago

    Hi has to Davka fly to return in US on Saturday ???

    12 years ago

    nice to come back on Shaboss and stop at a treif place at the airprt and have some pancakes as per radio reporting.

    LEEAVE
    LEEAVE
    12 years ago

    That’s leider the way these kids keep shabos

    MayerAlter
    MayerAlter
    12 years ago

    No he didn’t have to davka fly back on Shabbos but that was the first flight available so he took it. As someone who has a lot of interaction with totally non-frum kids and adults, I can tell you that they are simply totally unaware of the issue. They know they are travelling on Saturday but see nothing in the world wrong with it. They are living on a different planet.

    12 years ago

    To #’s 1, 2 and 5- Look, the majority of Israelis and Jewish- Americans are non-observant. Therefore, if they are not Shomer Shabbos, and eat treif, that is their business. We should not condemn them for their lack of religious observance. In 1957, Abba Eban was interviewed on nationwide tv, by Edward R. Morrow, on Friday evening. Eban caught a lot of flak for doing so, but since he was not observant, he wasn’t moved by the protests.

    12 years ago

    If that was the first flight available, I think that even a frum person would have had a moral dilemma. After being in prison for 4 months, most people just want to get home – the sooner, the better.

    rajay
    rajay
    12 years ago

    i am often surprised by many of the comments made on this site. Are you so naive to think that the whole world is frum? Does this ignorance complete blind you from reading the story as it is? B”H, a brother of ours- a Jew, regardless of his affiliation was released from an enemy prison. A prison that he was sitting in ONLY because he was Jewish. Our enemies don’t make distinctions based on our religious affiliations, why should you??

    12 years ago

    The more important issue is, I believe, why Israel paid a ransom? American law prohibits paying ransom and so Israel got the bill!! Whatwill the American government now do as ‘hakorat hatov’?? Several things come quickly to mind!!