At first blush you might think: What a funny way to tell a
forgiving story about a country that was savagely maligned for every good thing
it has accomplished!
But when you think about it, you can only wonder what else
could Jackson Diehl have done without getting himself fired, maybe even stoned
to professional banishment by those who invented punishment by stoning? Read
the Diehl article, and pass your own judgment. It came under the title: “Trump
got Egypt
to free an American prisoner. Here's her story.” It was published on May 25,
2017 in The Washington Post.
It is the story of Aya Hijazi, an American citizen of
Egyptian descent. She was charged with something, and imprisoned in Egypt , a
development that prompted a number of American publications to write horror
stories about her ordeal. And Jackson Diehl decided it was time to add his two-cent
worth to the debate.
Uncharacteristic of the mediocre writer he proved to be over
the years, he shows an unexpected burst of talent in this article. You can tell
this is the case when you see how he began the article, how he let it progress
and how he ended it. Knowing that the audience expects to read something bad
about Egypt ,
Diehl responded by letting the readers believe he agrees with the premise of
that expectation. But he quietly went on to paint a more pleasant picture of Egypt while
exposing the hard facts of the case.
Here is how Diehl started the article: “Hijazi learned years
ago that being an American citizen can get you in jail on trumped-up charges in
Egypt .”
Here is how he proceeded with the development of the story: “I met Hijazi and
her husband to hear [that] theirs is a tale of what can happen to activist
Americans in an increasingly hostile world … [Egypt ]
regards civil society groups backed by U.S. money or activists as national
security threats”.
This was the first hint dropped by Diehl that Egypt may have
been justified to suspect that Hijazi could be harboring nefarious intentions.
Conscious of the fact that the American public and government are reeling from
the effect of foreigners interfering with their system of governance, Diehl
counted on that same public grasping the danger inherent in strangers going to Egypt where
they establish unlicensed foundations financed with foreign money and run them
out of apartments in residential areas.
This done, Jackson Diehl went on to describe how Egypt
conducted itself in a laudable manner – in this case as in all the others –
despite the unending storm that's engulfing the region.
Here is Diehl's description of the situation on the ground:
“There were other reasons too: They were young and political. Young people
drove the 2011 revolution [that toppled] Hosni Mubarak and so are seen as a
strategic threat … They were intoxicated by the seeming potential for change in
the country but disillusioned by the polarization of its politics”.
Hijazi and her husband may have been free of nefarious
intentions, but a country that saw constant interference in its affairs for
decades could not forgo investigating what this couple was up to. Past
interference in Egyptian affairs came in the form of pirate radio stations
established for the sole purpose of inciting the population – twenty four hours
a day – to rise against its own government. Following such incitements, the
country was repeatedly invaded by old colonial powers and new wannabes.
It was from such experiences that the Egyptians gathered
what the American intelligence services are just beginning to learn. It is that
foreign agents are trained to entangle unwitting American citizens in seemingly
benign activities, but then gradually turn them into traitors without the
citizens realizing what they are becoming. Now, you can be certain that the
Americans will change their procedures to reflect these realities, thus come to
resemble the Egyptian procedures.