Ilan Grapel, the Queens law student freed after five months in an Egyptian prison, made an emotional return to US soil today, saying the New York memories that “flashed before my eyes” helped him endure captivity.
“I started to think back to when I was campaigning in Bayside, playing basketball in South Jamaica, and going to high school in the Bronx,” said the six-foot-four Bronx HS of Science grad and former intern for Congressman Gary Ackerman, who helped negotiate his release.
“Those are not the things they would ask you — those are not the questions that came up.,” said Grapel, who turned 28 in captivity,
“My head is still in Arabic syntax from five months of interrogation,” said Grapel, who speaks that language as well as Hebrew.
The lanky Grabel, wearing jeans and a polo shirt, stepped off a plane with his mom from Tel Aviv at JFK to hugs from his dad and and sister, amid a swirl of American flags and red, white and blue balloons.
“It was overwhelming,” he said of his ordeal.
The family said they planned to relax at home in Oakland Gardens, and introduce Ilan to their new dog. Asked what he would eat, he said, “Whatever mom cooks.”
Grapel , a law student at Emory University, was in Egypt to volunteer with a legal- aid group. In June, he arrested and accused of spying for Israel after posting photos of himself in Israeli military garb on his Facebook page. Relatives today called the spy charges “absurd and asinine.”
But Grapel wasn’t physically harmed while in solitary confinement, he said Doctors checked him. He ate “fish from the Nile,” chicken and vegetables — “but not chocolate-chip pancakes,” he said, referring to his favorite I-HOP meal
This was his second brush with danger in the Middle East — in 2006, he was wounded by shrapnel during a raid in Lebanone while serving in the Israeli military..
Israel freed 25 Egyptians from its jails in exchange for Grapel, a dual US-Israeli citizen.