When Majed El Shafie told Israeli soldiers he was Egyptian, some recoiled, some welcomed him warmly and some simply stared in shock. At a time when Islamic militants from Hizbollah were attacking Israel, here was a former Moslem, now living in Canada, greeting Israeli troops and expressing his support for them—and planning to tell their story back home.
“We are making a movie about the war, what’s behind the war,” El Shafie said. “I want to show the human side of Israel—hospitals, shelters, mothers of soldiers. And not just Jews, but Arabs, Christian Arabs, Russian immigrants.”
El Shafie came to Israel as a human rights observer during the war this summer to visit Israeli troops and tour the destruction caused by Hizbollah rockets. He said that the only thing he saw from the media in Canada was the destruction of Lebanon.
“Israel lost the media war,” he said. “From the beginning of the war, everyone was against Israel. I believe the Lebanese also suffered, but nobody spoke up for Israel.”
El Shafie took video footage of Israelis in shelters and hospitals and even brought back shrapnel from a rocket that was launched at Israel to present as evidence to parliament.
“How could you hit civilian areas?” he asked of Hizbollah. “At least Israel dropped leaflets [announcing where they were going to bomb] which took from Israel the element of surprise.”
El Shafie was raised as a Muslim in Egypt and was taught to hate Israel. After he converted to Christianity, which is illegal in Egypt, he was arrested and tortured for weeks. Then he made a daring escape to Israel, the only non-Muslim neighboring country. He was imprisoned for more than a year until he received political asylum and for the next two years he lived in Israel under the name Mack Smith and began to cultivate a love for the Land.
Now in Canada, he runs a human-rights organization, One Free World International, that helps people who are persecuted for their beliefs. This was El Shafie’s first trip back to Israel since moving to North America two years ago. As part of his work, he broadcasts the Gospel through three Arabic-language radio shows including one to Iraq.
While studying law in Egypt, El Shafie, who had Christian friends, saw discrepancies in Egyptian law, which regards Christians as lower class. This prompted him to search out Christianity for himself. He made a radical conversion and started an underground Christian organization that eventually grew to thousands. Then he was arrested.
“I had my hair shaved and was hung upside down with my head submerged in boiling hot and then ice cold water,” he said. “I was threatened with killer dogs. I was tied to a cross for three days, had my back slashed with a knife and then had lemon juice and salt rubbed in the wound until I finally fell unconscious from the pain.”
Though he was released from prison, El Shafie was summoned back to court. Awaiting his court date, El Shafie decided to try to escape to Israel, rather than face a certain death sentence. At the Red Sea, he rented a jet ski and with Egyptian and Israeli patrols pursuing him from both sides, he made for shore. He evaded the patrols, ditched his jet ski on an Eilat beach and ran to a nearby hotel. He was caught and jailed for 16 months, but was safely in Israel.
Nov 1, 2006
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