Ilan Grapnel speaks about our freedoms, the system and the Egyptian revolution

Ilan Grapnel's moving and intelligent note about his detention in Egypt on charges of spying for Israel.

A few quotes:
 On freedoms that we take for granted, especially when complaining that Israeli democracy is about to end, every time the Knesset passes a silly law, likely to be stricken down by the High Court. While such complaints are legitimate, they should be taken in prospective of those freedoms that we truly have, while many in the world don't:
"Five months in an Egyptian jail gives a person a lot of time to think. When you are not pacing or trying to catch an hour of afternoon sun through the barred window, there are thoughts of home, family, the freedoms Westerners take for granted, what exactly got you into the mess and even why you came to the country that locked you up. Two months after my release, as I watch news of the Egyptian military’s violent suppression of protests and raids on nongovernmental organizations, I still think of my first hours of arrest, when I was handcuffed and blindfolded."

An acknowledgement of the help from the Israeli government where it is due - something that many opponents of the current government coalition find hard to do, and which makes their arguments look biased and irrelevant. (Although Grapnel stresses the role of the US officials, it is worth remembering that he was released in a prisoner swap between Egypt and Israel.) 
"After these first two weeks, the interrogations ended, but my detention continued. Thus began my solitary confinement, which became the true ordeal — near-complete isolation, interrupted just twice a month by consular visits that lasted only 40 minutes. But thanks to the work of so many U.S. and Israeli government officials, I was not lost in the system. My parents and U.S. officials got me books, which I read slowly because I did not know whether I would get more or how long I would be jailed."

A fair assessment of the outcome of the Egyptian revolution:
"People ask, “So what do you think of Egypt and your mission now?” My answer is constantly evolving. As my detention and recent events and repressions in Egypt make clear, the revolution brought only superficial change. The junta’s focus on external actors represents a desperate attempt to avoid culpability and abdication of power."