I Was Detained In Lebanon as an Israeli Spy
Added 2024-08-10 18:00:08 +0000 UTCDear Patrons,
As promised, and as a preamble to our Lebanon season, here is the story of Evan being detained as an Israeli spy.
I was on my way back to Canada when this happened. I somehow knew something was wrong because I haven't heard from him all day which made no sense because he didn't have any filming planned for that day. So I spent the last leg of my flight stressing that I had to contact our Lebanese friends ASAP. Sure enough, when I landed there was already a text waiting for me letting me know about his detention.
The next few days were a little stressful. Although I knew he was okay, I wasn't able to speak to him much. Luckily, everything turned out to be fine at the end.
Thanks so much for letting us continue to make this series with all its adventures and challenges, or as Evan would put it, letting him keep getting himself into these crazy situations.
Kata (and Evan)
Comments
Really glad you got out of this okay, sounds terrifying! When I first went to Lebanon a few years ago I very stupidly took a photo of one of those little red and white military posts by the port as the soldier stood there wasn't looking my way. Turned out a jogger wasn't far behind me and he stopped me and called the soldier over. Luckily all that happened was the soldier gave me a serious telling off and made me delete the picture. I also had an amazing few months in Lebanon so I'm glad this didn't ruin your impression of the country. I'm really excited to see the new series, I'm sure it will bring back some great memories. Cheers :)
Trillo
2024-08-16 11:52:13 +0000 UTCGood question! It's tough to answer because first off - I don't know. I have no way to know. But my gut tells me that it is likely a combination of: A) police bragging about their situation and excusing their having to detain me a bit, inflating numbers B) they certainly do catch a fair number of spies, witting or unwitting - for example, a fairly common action to get intel I was told about is the hiring of people to do photoshoots, by foreign companies, in semi-sensitive locations for otherwise ostensibly ok stuff. Let's say a fashion shoot or similar. The participants don't even know they're spying, but they still end up doing the bidding of someone antagonistic to the country. With Lebanon experiencing the worst economic crisis of recorded history right now, not to mention the sectarianism, it isn't particularly complicated to find people with axes to grind and a need for cash. I'm certain there is a fair amount of that being exposed, both in reality and also unjustly against innocent people who don't have a good enough alibi.
Rare Earth
2024-08-12 21:38:36 +0000 UTCAnyone else wondering if we need to start a special fund for "Evan's international legal expenses." Glad you made it home safe though.
Lady Sixa
2024-08-12 15:14:53 +0000 UTCEvan, you are brave guy to keep it together while being arrested. I so glad you made it safely home. Do you really thing Lebanon is identifying 2-3 spies a week? That seems high, but then I don't know much.
Alice LWatson
2024-08-12 00:13:11 +0000 UTCWhat an insane story. Glad you made it home safe and looking forward to this season.
Dinotrakker
2024-08-11 15:05:31 +0000 UTCUnscripted, almost uncut and so entertaining. Just gold to me π
larry82
2024-08-11 12:27:01 +0000 UTCAnd THIS is why you are a story teller.
Nancy Reid
2024-08-11 01:10:51 +0000 UTCI absolutely loved that format. I obviously do not hope that you'll find yourselves in more crazy situations, but the way you're telling that story is amazing. If there's a way for that format to return, along with your regular format, and without causing too much trouble, that would be really nice.
Frederic Rich
2024-08-11 01:08:59 +0000 UTCWhat a crazy tale
Sean J Barry
2024-08-10 19:12:24 +0000 UTCVery scary situation, love the stories that you two put out, I guess this is the line you walk to get them.
Cynical Rhys
2024-08-10 18:20:23 +0000 UTCππβ¨
Starrylock
2024-08-10 18:14:11 +0000 UTCAbsolute Madlad that Evan is, they knew he was up to something! /S
Bryan Schmidt
2024-08-10 18:02:40 +0000 UTC
