As a recently ex vice consul for the UK, the "list of lawyers that we are unable to recommend" is standard. It's in case anything goes wrong because the embassy cannot verify the quality of the legal representation. The best they do is take them off the list if they are known to be problematic. Most embassies also refuse to try and interfere in the local legal process, because it can actually make things worse. It also stops reciprocal attempts at interference. The exception to this is if there are any obvious human rights violations, or violations of local procedure. Generally then , any embassy worth their salt will at the very least send a note verbal making enquiries about said case.
@@islandsedition I appreciate your expertise, but too many Canadian embassies have been staffed with a collection of useless "not my job's worth" types for far too long. There are many reports of embassy staff being either useless or worse when Canadians overseas have difficulties. It's been an ongoing problem for years. I get what you're saying about the lawyer list and the not interfering with the local legal process, but time and again the embassy staff refuse to do ANYTHING. Very frustrating and potentially dangerous. It definitely needs fixing and has needed fixing for a long time. Apparently not a high enough priority for the other bunch of useless "not my job's worth" gits in Parliament.
poor guy. I have journalist friends and friends that got dumped or cheated on. makes me wanna purge everything in case those journalist friends ever get detained like this. the broken harted friends do not need further humiliation....but then it would very sus if like messages were missing.
An ex-colleague of mine is dual citizen of Iran and Germany. A few years ago he was arrested at JFK airport at the suspicion of being an Iranian spy collecting information for the Iranian nuclear program. Needless to say, the guy is just computer nerd visiting the US branch of his employer. It took 2 weeks of non-stop effort from his company, the Germany embassy, and 2 separate lawyers to get him out. Luck, your wit, and those men at CID/ISF were on your side.
My grandad was a university maths lecturer and was stopped and questioned for two days entering the US, because he’d visited Iran for a maths conference. Just because of one brief visit to Iran they thought a 60 year old English maths lecturer could be a threat!
@@talkingoyster spies are often normal ppl for 99% of their time. my muslim dad was rated on by christian work colleagues during the communist regime, it was illegal to leave the country at the time. some of his jewish friends had fled before the lock-down and he wanted to leave too, move to them in the west. the rat later became a university professor and he failed me in his class because I gave him my dad's phone number and my dad wouldn't answer him. when I asked my dad what all this confusing drama was, cuz the professor acted acted like a vengeful gay spurned lover out of a hollywood show, my dad told me about the declassified documents after the regime fell and he got confirmation for what many believed that person to be. an informant for the state. and now I have friends that work for the government and know exactly when russian low level spies are, yet to be kicked out. They pretend to be scientists or journalists. More concerning are the smarter native turn cloaks recruited in their 20's now 40 or more. And at the start of the of the Ukraine war some fled to russia, confirming many suspicions they had been were turned. They were not russians but have since become, if not in name, definitely in spirit.
I remember seeing your community post about this back in March. “Sorry, can’t upload because I’ve been arrested on suspicion of being a spy” is probably one of the least expected reasons for having a late video. Sorry this happened to you and I’m glad you came out of it alright
@@DasGanon What did Evan say about the interrogators? The head dude told Evan, "we catch two spies a week?" IDF catches all sorts of people trying to commit violent acts here every day, it's all on public WhatsApp channels, and on X. IDF reports it every few hours. A lot of them are teenagers with knives. There was a suicide bomber that blew himself up before reaching the target in Tel Aviv just a couple of days ago. This is our daily reality.
Watching this video, being the paranoid luddite that I am, refusing to even use a smartphone, having my browser set up to delete all history every time I close it, etc, doesn't seem all that unreasonable. I have in my ancient blackberry style phone maybe two weeks of texts. Although, writing it now I can see how that could backfire magnificently in an interogration situation like Evan's...
@@RareEarthSeries I hadn't considered that, but yeah, it probably screams fake identity. I must commend you on your recounting of events...I felt like I was going through it.
@@RareEarthSeries This whole episode does remind that I have unsolicited revealing pics and text messages that a friend sent me of his ex, which I don't know how to purge without deleting our whole history. Seriously, who does that?! I'm think he and Francesco need to get together. It'd definitely give Francesco a decent distraction from his woes. Btw Evan, yes, you truly are a good person, goofy names, jokes, and all! 💜
Portuguese guy here, I also took pictures of that hotel in 2012 when visiting Beirut and was immediately approached by a cop who made me delete them!!!
I tried to take a picture of a gigantic mushroom in a supermarket in Tbilisi and the guard told me to put my camera away and then wanted to know what I was doing in the supermarket. I do not know what would have happened if my escort/translator had not emerged from the ladies' room at just that moment.
I wonder how many of the “3 spies per week” are also just regular guys who didn’t have a sports joke and a family friend to exonerate them. I understand why the police were suspicious but what bothers me is the kangaroo court judge.
Considering the fact that they think "recording a poster" is something an Israeli spy would do, I would say nearly all of the 3 spies per week are just unlucky people that get disappeared. Takeaway is make sure you have stuff on your phone the police will interpret as anti-semitic
I'm almost certain 'this exonerated you' meant that this is the evidence that the judge will find convincing. The ISF guys knew this referred to the sports team. They knew he has been to Israel. They were sort of setting him up so that the judge would allow him to go free.
Son of an astronaut, in a wild far off place dealing with hostile authorities, guided by a woman with ties to the military, and the authorities think you did something you didn't. Dude, you are John Crichton.
Thank you for revealing the utter uselessness of Canadian embassy staff. This has been the experience of so many of my friends (Afghan and Canadian), especially in Pakistan. One wonders why our embassies even exist except as a career stepping stone for bureaucrats
TBH, I'm not sure what they could do. However, more competent embassy staff would probably realize that the dude is in a shit ton of trouble, and the "go to an internet cafe" must have been quite aggravating.
Remember in one of the "Home Alone" movies where Kevin's mom calls the police station to ask them to check on her son and the cops are chomping donuts while asking irrelevant questions? That's what this reminds me of.
Yea an embassy is not a tourist service. It's an international relations office, they'll help you out if it avoids souring relations or if they just have some time and staff to spare. It's definitely not something they're expected to do, let alone be good at.
Bro got arrested on charges of being an Israeli spy in Lebanon, gets interrogated for 12 hours, goes on house arrest for several days, and the one time he got stressed out was the time he had to deal with his airline ... How do airlines get away with treating people like this ...
@@Flaakk Islamophobia is big in Israel, so it's very likely that it would triggered some reaction from an extreme homophobic person, so they tried that to see if he react. If he did, they could go from there to see why. It's just how interrogation works, they don't put out jokes for no reason. Edited later: Can i take that back? I don't know much about Israel apart from what my muslim acquaintance says here in Thailand, I lack viewpoints. I should go out more to places, but I don't have money to travel. RareEarth is one of my favorite channels to learn more about the world.
I'd like to hope that someone at the Canadian Embassy in Beirut is about to get a serious talking to about how to be useful, and how to not come across as an incompetent bureaucrat when there's a Canadian national in distress. Because with recent events, I worry that there will be an increase of urgent need for such assistance sooner rather than later.
There's literally nothing they can do. If they leave the embassy grounds, they themselves might be arrested and disappeared. They would not be the first American embassy staff to do so. Edit: did the goober not call the US embassy? Did he actually think the *Canadian* embassy would do anything at all? They have no funding, no staff, and no diplomatic (relevant or real) relationship with most nations anyway. There are some Latin American nations who's embassies he could have called, that might have been able to help, as well as some European ones. I don't know why people don't know this, but most embassies will help literally anyone who needs it. They're not magically locked to just their citizens, especially Europe. On top of that US embassies explicitly support Canadians, as well as a few other nations (Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, ect), and are *far* more likely to have the pull to do anything. Still would probably have nothing to do in Lebanon atm, but still, way better chances.
Of course, the classic, men need to share their feelings immediately turning around into men need to stop having feelings. Way too many upvotes on this comment.
@@XSpamDragonXGetting over a relationship that ended is not "stopping having feelings" and more of working through them and not drowning in misery. What's more is it's a very gender neutral advice, it's not mentally healthy to be stuck in the past and what could have beens for too long. For all people there are times to move on and heal without becoming emotionally unavailable. Personally, I like to have some feedback on my emotions and be aware how/why I probably feel what I feel, and sort it all out in my head. What you wrote sounds like we don't have any agency in what we feel and think and temporary emotions should rule our lives for longer than it's healthy with no mental work whatsever.
@@octohej6436 I'm upset that people are judging his emotions based on some off-hand jokes in an entirely unrelated video. How can so many people assume he's having an unhealthy response to his feelings based on a couple comments about a text conversation?
I got arrested in the UAE taking a picture of a cool looking tree next to a 12 foot wall. The wall, unbeknownst to me, was the perimeter of a military facility. Luckily the cops were pretty well educated and of the "intelligent" variety. I was only in custody for a couple hours.
I'm thinking the CID guys deliberately chose the silliest keywords they could find for that judge to talk him down from potentially causing an international incident
@@ncc74656m tbh I was thinking more along the lines of "Travel journalist son of world famous canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield incarcerated (or dead in prison) over trumped up espionage charges in Lebanon." That would not have been a good look
@@Gillsingyou don't understand how international politics works if you think that. International diplomacy is all about looks and relationships, and even if you're in war it's of paramount importance to keep a good look about yourself. Because the way foreign countries deal with you is determined by how the public in such countries view you.
Just a note. The armed "martyr poster" was of a militiaman and a Ter-orist from Al Jamaa Al Islamia, a local Muslim Brotherhood militia and a Ter-orist organization, who are currently participating in the war.
Yes was about to comment that. They've allied with Hezbollah despite past animosity due to the civil war in Syria. And the big building in front of it is La Maison de la Communaute Druze, the center of the Druze faith in Lebanon. My house in Beirut is just 10 minutes away haha
@@despair_bear illegally fired mortars into the Golan Heights (which are being occupied illegally) - not that I'm on the side of the mortars but you left out a section
@@RareEarthSeries Did you know that virtually ALL of the Golan was aboriginal Jewish lands. Just look at the archaologic proof. Now Israel simply has a bit go it back after they were ATTACKED from the region, The Golan in Jewish hands is NOT illegal as it was taken in a defences war. God bless Israel and Jews worldwide :)
@@busimagen imo the only people who would find me sitting in my kitchen odd because of the colour blue are people who look for patterns where they don't exist to invent narratives that conform to narrow worldviews - spending your life worrying about the opinions of this group is useless, as they'll always find something else to focus on to confirm their beliefs But sometimes a cigar is just a cigar
As a Lebanese I can't remove my palm from my head at the fact that this happened. I'm sorry you went through this experience, and as a long time fan I'm thrilled that you're doing a series about Lebanon. It sounds like you otherwise had a wonderful time, and I can't wait to hear about your journey. Much love!
@@antoinek.8478 Lebanon does sound like a marvelous place in times of peace! Also, I was wondering if that’s not a rude question, to ask how has the war affected you and your close ones? I can’t imagine it’s been a quiet couple of months.
@@Yotam1703 It has certainly brought another level of unnecessary stress. It is manageable, but it's also piling on top of already-existing challenges.
@@Yotam1703I'm lebanese too, and some people may disagree with me on this, but the war is only in the south, and so if you're not in the south, nothing is actually happening, people are partying and going on with their life normally.
@@Yotam1703Life in Lebanon hasn’t changed since the war unless you’re in the south. Only difference for anyone else is the occasional sonic boom by the Israelis to scare or threaten us. Though Lebanon has been having constant looming issues for decades. Even myself, just being a child of the 2000s, I’ve seen many things first-hand and it kinda mentally prepares you for these things. The economic decline plus the 2006 war and all these issues that come and go. It’s nothing new to us.
Hello, a resident of Beirut here, I'm gonna be listing a few things that I found I need to note: 1-The banners at 3:25 are as follows: Top is not a political banner (the elections were a couple years ago actually) it's a banner for the month of Ramadan that says "The Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) said: The person fasting has two joys, a joy when he breaks his fast and a joy when he meets his God" as for the bottom banner, it's indeed of a dead militant, but he's not from Hezbollah, he's from the Al Jamaa al Islamiyya who are the Muslim Brotherhood in Lebanon, both banners are by them. Add to it the statue was that of former prime minister Rashid Karami who was assassinated in the late 80s, so this area is one with many sunnis as opposed to areas with Hezbollah support that are mostly populated by shiites. 2- At 8:50 I wanted to explain something. Recently the Israeli mossad has been recruiting people through the internet, usually through "job opportunities" that end up being odd jobs for a lot of money, some of them being photographing something of no value or dropping an empty box in another city, weird stuff like that, which builds up the trust and obedience between the would be spy and the handler. There has been a bunch of recent cases like this that were caught by the Internal Security Forces. 3-At 14:25. You don't get instantly sent to jail, however you do get locked up before you appear before the military court that prosecutes spy cases, and the military court is notorious for sentencing actual spies for not that long amount of time. So you'd probably be found innocent and let go easy, considering you are innocent lol. Now I'm not sure how the Court deals with cases as of now but I'm going off information I have from at least half a year ago. 4-At 26:12 Detectives work under a general prosecutor in the area they operate in, the general prosecutor is a judge, so these officers were not at liberty to take the decision of letting the man go as that kind of decision is taken by a judge be it the general prosecutor or the investigative judge depending on how far the investigation went. 5-It's nice to see that despite this negative experience you enjoyed our country and I'm also happy to see you recognise that your actions at this time of hardships, despite being innocent, played a role in this incident.
This story about Internet recruiting doesn't pass the sniff test. Presumably Israel has much more refined ways of getting intelligence and agents on the ground than hiring people to take photos on the Internet. It's totally something your ISF would say to glorify itself and maybe a chance to arrest some people you don't like or something. Don't be so trusty of your government ;) Peace.
#2 - Iran has been doing the same thing - they reach out to young religious Israeli Jews who don't have a lot of exposure to the outside world and ask them to do odd jobs for a lot of money.
@ElisaAvigayil Israelis always put the finger on Iran, when they do shady or just appalling stuff or blame it on something or someone else. We are behaving like criminals, but look what Iran is doing😮 I don't support either, but it's just something I noticed.
Maybe the concierge was subtly trying to encourage you.... Like: "Don't worry Mr. Hadfield. We know you're not a spy. We'll make up your room for when you return."
I think he was just on autopilot saying what he'd normally say when a guest was leaving the room, but he was a sweetheart he was so happy when I returned that night
To use any drone in Lebanon you need a permit from the ministry of defense, that’s how serious it is and you droned an old hotel occupied by the Lebanese Army….
There is a Lebanese action buddy cop movie waiting to be made called "Good Cop, Bad Cop, Muslim Cop" Also @38:22 might be the hardest I've laughed in months!
Never in my life had 50+ minutes flown faster than they did watching this video. The sort of "disclaimer" about Lebanon at the end speaks volumes of you. My grandpa's late brother was wounded in 1957 during the UNEF mission at Sinai and he spent some time at the hospital in Beirut afterwards before being flown back home to Yugoslavia. He said the Lebanese locals were amazingly friendly. Thank you so much for sharing this story!
"Do you want our maids to make it up for you?" 🤣 The words of a man truly not willing to buy into the BS anymore, just wants to do his job and go home.
I love how you were able to help us be there with you, step by step. Presenting it in such a balanced way too. You could have just been bitter, but you chose to find the positive. You have a gift with words, it is what has kept me coming back again, and again.
Mec, ton histoire est incroyable. La façon dont tu es capable de nous capturer, c'est incroyable. Tu n'as pas perdu ta semaine au Liban, tu as une des histoires les plus intrigantes que j'ai entendu de ma vie.
Wow! What an experience! Your description of the people of Lebanon is spot on- they are the most welcoming people I have ever met. Even the experience with the ISF. and local police reveal the character of the people in that they have the BEST sense of humor and ultimately, that is what saved you in the end. I hope you are able to return and complete this series on this beautiful country.
Isn't it wild to find out the guy you think is amazing is even more amazing? It's very much a Ron Howard type situation- Dad was a great man, Ron is a great man, his kids are great people. Same with the Hadfield clan.
@@iamperplexed4695"Just stating the facts" are you? I doubt that. I'm not canadian, but did see hadfield's cover of 'space oddity' like a decade ago from the ISS, and thought it was phenomenal. and you're saying he was "just an astronaut" like being an astronaut means nothing, it's kinda a big deal. I subscribed to this channel only a few years ago, and didn't realize there was any connection between the two at the time and think it's nifty. again, you must be real fun at parties. If no one has ever said it to you before; don't be an insufferable pedant.
Holy Cow…that was riveting. You, sir, have become a masterful storyteller as 3/4 into your telling I realized I was stressed for you…even though: there you are, calm and kempt, in a lovely (beautiful) kitchen relaying this unbelievable series of events👏👏👏
Honestly, this video freaked me out a bit (then again - I am just a sheltered Danish guy), but I am happy that everything turned out okay, and you tell the story beautifully and with compassion (as you always do). Thank you for what you do, Evan, and I can't wait for the new series! Lebanon looks like a beautiful country.
Watching this was an emotional rollecoster, and by the end, you had me cry even without a script. Thank you for making videos, and I wish you all the best
The "A-bomb" thing is a funny way to frame it 😄 But after the A-bomb came the H-bomb. Chris Hadfield is not just an astronaut, he's the world's most recognisable working astronaut of the ISS era.
I keep saying each episode is your best. Thanks for your struggle for humanity. You are a bright light in a very dim world. I hope he gets over the breakup, it’s bad losing someone, I know.
The politician venerated in that memorial is Rasheed Karami, former prime minister who was assassinated using a bomb planted in the army helicopter that was transporting him. This was in 1986 in the middle of the civil war. His assassin is a present day politician, active and everything.
@@nassimabed Bibi was behind the 'removal' of Yitzhak Rabin's breathing privileges. He proudly led protests against his own Prime Minister that got him k*lled, which then allowed Bibi to take power in a rushed election and immediately start overturning all of the work that had been done to bring peace between neighbors. When he was asked to moderate his tone in those protests he led, he _refused._ Then when it came down to accountability for it happening, Bibi took none of the blame. In other words, they (Likud) overthrew their own government to put Bibi into power, and it's been downhill in terms of mediation of the M.E. ever since. Nobody ever talks about it. I guess it's one of those forbidden 'lashon hara' types of topics. The same behaviors that they accuse others of, or that they point a finger of mockery towards, they are quite often _guilty of_ themselves.
@@jovand6606 I'm blocking on another country that has the equivalent of our prison at Guantanamo Bay. Bear in mind a lot of the prisoners there-for decades-were guilty of absolutely nothing, were tortured, and never met a single human being like the Lebanese security officers who kept Evan safe and let him go.
actually as a canadian citizen he probably would be able to get a lawyer, even if the CIA was the org that detained him. too messy to mess with canadian citizens
I travelled also but your experience reminds me that your not home in these countries. Important to always be polite and respectful in these situation. Thanks for sharing!!
Glad you had such a good time in Lebanon, despite this! How lucky you have no obviously Jewish friends or family in your message history or contacts. I'm afraid even without the drone, the suspicious footage, even without anything in my internet history I lack the confidence in Lebanese friendliness. I would be marked by accident of birth.
Evan, you are through and through a person of integrity. It is so beautiful to see a person who really cares, regardless of who it is about. Someone who has a moral compass which is aligned through compassion. Thank you for existing and sharing your findings and views and making everything more bearable. ❤️
38:10 I burst out laughing at this tension release. Thank you for this amazing story, for telling us that this didn't happen because it was Lebanon, and for all that you do.
I'm almost certain 'this exonerated you' meant that this is the evidence that the judge will find convincing. The ISF guys knew this referred to the sports team. They knew he has been to Israel. They were sort of setting him up so that the judge would allow him to go free.
its actually called disgusting, he got off bc he agreed that jew/israeli = bad which meant that he was good. the word youre looking for is disgusting not wild
Relax it's just a joke , plus these stuff cannot be undermined because espionage is happening at an alarming rate and you cannot be too careful with our aggressive neighbors
@@alihasanabdullah7586 I remember the sports team incident vaguely, he could have just said he is a travel vlogger covering events in the Middle East and that's what he was doing in Israel/Palestine. Calling it Palestine does not change where he was. I think it was a Tel Aviv Maccabi team that went to Europe if I am not mistaken. It's not a big deal until you hide it.
@@00000000000101010 Because it's true. The judge being anti-semitic and taking his benign text as anti-semitism ironically got him off the false charges."
The funny thing is that he can claim it's not anti-semitic and is a harmless joke, but when viewed through a lens of someone who grew up in an Arab country, it was a legitimate anti-semitic joke that would have been said by anyone around.
Such a scary experience, I'm glad you were able to get out of it unscathed. Still, incredibly interesting story. However, I can't avoid being worried that many other innocent people were caught and couldn't talk their way out of it.
Flying a drone without permission and filming military installations would get you into serious trouble even in the West. I'm somewhat surprised they didn't press this line of investigation further. In my country there isn't a year when some tourist doesn't make it into the news by getting arrested and fined for accidentally filming a military building. Finding out it was intentional would be guaranteed jail time.
humor kept my sanity while i was detained in lisbon. the cops and me had eachother laughing in no time. however, being alaskan with an ak drivers license helps break the ice every time. well done, evan. please offer my sincerest alaskan regards to don cesso.
Amazing storytelling Evan, especially given that you said this off the top of your head. I didn't even notice that 50 minutes have passed. Looking forward to the series!
Lebanon can be a dangerous place, but so can just about any other place in the world. It sounds like the people there on the whole are good-hearted people and that's what defines a country, not it's bureaucracy.
This was the best thing I've seen on youtube in years. This felt like real. Refreshed it has broken the phonies on the internet this last decades strangle hold. Them going through your texts, because we all have those, was me also self reflecting on my message history
Some of them do have actaull convincing evedince as one guy was intergated and then his 2nd phone rang and they told him to open it and activate speaker so he did and he actually turned out to be a spy@@jayteegamble
You are one of THE best story tellers of our time. The fact this was one big take and you told it so eloquently whilst keeping us engaged throughout is incredible. Your talents pervade in all your videos too.
I have seen several creator youtube posts with similar experiences. This is ex post advice, but back up all material (cloud), always have a witness, when you leave your hotel room assume you will be robbed or kidnapped and plan accordingly. Assume at all times your phone will be stolen or destroyed and again plan accordingly.
@@RareEarthSeries yep uploading 4k videos at third world internet speed is maybe worst than lebanese prison and the internet trafic is going to be more sus than just recording video.
Even in major hollywood productions richer than god, we struggle to keep backups from DIT to production office back home while in a remote area. And we've had camera & drives impounded by various other governments, just like this. We're just be glad it wasn't ransomed back to us, because that can happen in places like Egypt.
Totally, I did this when travelling through sketchy areas. Laptop running rsync to my NAS. Backup for the NAS too. I don't know how much this guy was recording, but I had about 3TB uploaded. I also blanked my phone and laptop when going through the airport. That part was a huge pain, but good to know I could pull it off if I lost my devices. I used Syncthing to copy stuff off my phone automatically. If you do it all automatically, you can just leave your laptop chugging away and even with bad internet, it will eventually come through for you.
@@richardballan2013 Well, sir, if you're in the Middle East: we don't go anywhere, and neither do you. We can either live together in coexistence or ruin the other's life. It's your life, your choice. I've made mine: I'm happy to live with all of our neighbors in peace.
Flying a drone without permission and filming military installations would get you into serious trouble anywhere in the world. I'm somewhat surprised they didn't press this line of investigation further.
To me when you say they let you go because "they know you are a good person", and they catch "2-3 guys every week" tells me there is a clear panic in lebenon, and i would question you feeling good and not terrified about the whole thing. It would have been so much easier to for them to say "we caught an Israeli spy!", cause it sounds like it happens
Been to the GCC and Dubai in particular dozens of times in the last 15 years, but made my first trip to Lebanon in early May. What an amazing place! I agree with every good thing you said, but you forgot to mention the FOOD! The scenery, people, culture, cuisine, history (Byblos and Ba'albek particularly), EVERYTHING! Only place in the entire Middle East I have seen I can understand them fighting for.
A chinese ex colleague of mine ended up in a similar situation in Canada, at the airport. They went through all of his emails, Facebook messages, etc. And even after it was clear he wasn't a spy or criminal, he was just shipped back home.
Wow,what a story,mate I am native and during the war I had my bad time ,,as you mentioned,it's a war time and people on edge, lucky they did not keep you any longer,we love great people and we really say sorry for what happened.we love to see you again there,by the way you documentary is fantastic and so informative,cheers mate...
Greetings from Los Angeles! I’m Lebanese, next time come with me and I’ll take you to where the war zone is/was you’ll be safe with me and you’ll get to experience southern Lebanese culture!
What the one cop said at the end, that they let you go because they knew that you were a good guy and they knew you didn’t deserve to be locked up, that gave me a bit of hope that people can be good to each other. Thank you for sharing this story even, I’m glad I heard it.
As a Lebanese and long time fan of this channel, I'm thrilled that you are doing a series on Lebanon. I always hoped you would as I felt that our little weird slice of the world would be perfect for your type of videos. I'm so sorry you went through all that, relieved that it worked out and glad that the experience didn't taint your views of the country. Lebanon is a tragic beautiful weird mess of a country, and I'm glad it's getting a series by someone who knows how to do it justice.
23:42 - that fake CBC article was *chef's kiss*. 38:40 - Don Cesso. My goodness. 45:00 - Exoneration through wildly inappropriate humour is exactly the Rare Earth ending we should've seen coming. The best situations are the dangerously absurd ones with the single caveat of "...that you walked away from". Swear to god you could make the back of a box of Shreddies riveting. "I hope you enjoy this season, it's a really good one." - He says that every time and has yet to be wrong.
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Bail fund:
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You probably are, being a "confirmed" account
As a recently ex vice consul for the UK, the "list of lawyers that we are unable to recommend" is standard. It's in case anything goes wrong because the embassy cannot verify the quality of the legal representation. The best they do is take them off the list if they are known to be problematic.
Most embassies also refuse to try and interfere in the local legal process, because it can actually make things worse. It also stops reciprocal attempts at interference.
The exception to this is if there are any obvious human rights violations, or violations of local procedure. Generally then , any embassy worth their salt will at the very least send a note verbal making enquiries about said case.
First, last, almost all of it - I'm glad you're safe, after that I want to say you are an extraordinary story teller. Please stay safe duck.
@@islandsedition I appreciate your expertise, but too many Canadian embassies have been staffed with a collection of useless "not my job's worth" types for far too long. There are many reports of embassy staff being either useless or worse when Canadians overseas have difficulties. It's been an ongoing problem for years. I get what you're saying about the lawyer list and the not interfering with the local legal process, but time and again the embassy staff refuse to do ANYTHING. Very frustrating and potentially dangerous. It definitely needs fixing and has needed fixing for a long time. Apparently not a high enough priority for the other bunch of useless "not my job's worth" gits in Parliament.
We all love you Evan ~ Stay safe out there ~
the real victim here is don cesso
poor guy.
I have journalist friends and friends that got dumped or cheated on. makes me wanna purge everything in case those journalist friends ever get detained like this. the broken harted friends do not need further humiliation....but then it would very sus if like messages were missing.
@@anamariapopa9431 there's a little don cesso in all of us-- i'm sure the interrogators will understand
@@anamariapopa9431 Signal has self-deleting messages, I use that for everyone
If you are a good enough person you shouldn't have to worry about your messages.
@@timmycowie9612 The FBI should immediately check the phones of people who say stuff like this because you know it is just full of heinous stuff
An ex-colleague of mine is dual citizen of Iran and Germany. A few years ago he was arrested at JFK airport at the suspicion of being an Iranian spy collecting information for the Iranian nuclear program. Needless to say, the guy is just computer nerd visiting the US branch of his employer. It took 2 weeks of non-stop effort from his company, the Germany embassy, and 2 separate lawyers to get him out.
Luck, your wit, and those men at CID/ISF were on your side.
My grandad was a university maths lecturer and was stopped and questioned for two days entering the US, because he’d visited Iran for a maths conference. Just because of one brief visit to Iran they thought a 60 year old English maths lecturer could be a threat!
No sarcastic
@@talkingoyster spies are often normal ppl for 99% of their time. my muslim dad was rated on by christian work colleagues during the communist regime, it was illegal to leave the country at the time. some of his jewish friends had fled before the lock-down and he wanted to leave too, move to them in the west.
the rat later became a university professor and he failed me in his class because I gave him my dad's phone number and my dad wouldn't answer him.
when I asked my dad what all this confusing drama was, cuz the professor acted acted like a vengeful gay spurned lover out of a hollywood show, my dad told me about the declassified documents after the regime fell and he got confirmation for what many believed that person to be. an informant for the state.
and now I have friends that work for the government and know exactly when russian low level spies are, yet to be kicked out. They pretend to be scientists or journalists. More concerning are the smarter native turn cloaks recruited in their 20's now 40 or more. And at the start of the of the Ukraine war some fled to russia, confirming many suspicions they had been were turned. They were not russians but have since become, if not in name, definitely in spirit.
I appreciate the effort to curb that kind of thing, but man I wish they were more competent.
@@anamariapopa9431 cucked.. you can't have Jewish friends
I remember seeing your community post about this back in March. “Sorry, can’t upload because I’ve been arrested on suspicion of being a spy” is probably one of the least expected reasons for having a late video. Sorry this happened to you and I’m glad you came out of it alright
At the same time that's also like the most on brand thing especially after the actual spy thing
A feeble excuse, at least agree to make a series of state propaganda videos for your freedom. 🤣
@@DasGanon What did Evan say about the interrogators? The head dude told Evan, "we catch two spies a week?" IDF catches all sorts of people trying to commit violent acts here every day, it's all on public WhatsApp channels, and on X. IDF reports it every few hours. A lot of them are teenagers with knives. There was a suicide bomber that blew himself up before reaching the target in Tel Aviv just a couple of days ago. This is our daily reality.
Special thanks to my ex for making your arrest funnier lol. Doing great everyone, thank you for the many comments!
Don Cesso
Silver linings, I suppose!
And thanks for your work on Rare Earth over the years!
Hope you're doing well, Don Cesso!
Glad to hear it!
I can't imagine being interrogated over my digital history. Even just reviewing it alone. Yikes.
Watching this video, being the paranoid luddite that I am, refusing to even use a smartphone, having my browser set up to delete all history every time I close it, etc, doesn't seem all that unreasonable. I have in my ancient blackberry style phone maybe two weeks of texts. Although, writing it now I can see how that could backfire magnificently in an interogration situation like Evan's...
I would be dead
You can't imagine how guilty having no online trace looks though
@@RareEarthSeries I hadn't considered that, but yeah, it probably screams fake identity. I must commend you on your recounting of events...I felt like I was going through it.
@@RareEarthSeries This whole episode does remind that I have unsolicited revealing pics and text messages that a friend sent me of his ex, which I don't know how to purge without deleting our whole history. Seriously, who does that?!
I'm think he and Francesco need to get together. It'd definitely give Francesco a decent distraction from his woes.
Btw Evan, yes, you truly are a good person, goofy names, jokes, and all! 💜
Portuguese guy here, I also took pictures of that hotel in 2012 when visiting Beirut and was immediately approached by a cop who made me delete them!!!
I tried to take a picture of a gigantic mushroom in a supermarket in Tbilisi and the guard told me to put my camera away and then wanted to know what I was doing in the supermarket. I do not know what would have happened if my escort/translator had not emerged from the ladies' room at just that moment.
Makes me think there's something "important" going on in that hotel?
@@RambleOn. I bet Russia is in on it.
I wonder how many of the “3 spies per week” are also just regular guys who didn’t have a sports joke and a family friend to exonerate them. I understand why the police were suspicious but what bothers me is the kangaroo court judge.
Considering the fact that they think "recording a poster" is something an Israeli spy would do, I would say nearly all of the 3 spies per week are just unlucky people that get disappeared. Takeaway is make sure you have stuff on your phone the police will interpret as anti-semitic
Once again, the 3 spies per week is an exaggeration
I'm almost certain 'this exonerated you' meant that this is the evidence that the judge will find convincing. The ISF guys knew this referred to the sports team. They knew he has been to Israel. They were sort of setting him up so that the judge would allow him to go free.
@@mohammadjaafar1496 The Lebanese guy did not say where the spies they catch every week are from, did he?
I wonder how many of the authorities are actually the spies.
Son of an astronaut, in a wild far off place dealing with hostile authorities, guided by a woman with ties to the military, and the authorities think you did something you didn't.
Dude, you are John Crichton.
damn I miss that show
Sad salute to one of the best Sci-Fi shows of all time
@@coreytaylor5386 I was in a hotel a little while ago and it was on tv. Brought back some memories.
Amazing connection to make, and now I think we need to pay even more attention to Evan's misadventures.
He dealt with it through humor too!
Thank you for revealing the utter uselessness of Canadian embassy staff. This has been the experience of so many of my friends (Afghan and Canadian), especially in Pakistan. One wonders why our embassies even exist except as a career stepping stone for bureaucrats
TBH, I'm not sure what they could do. However, more competent embassy staff would probably realize that the dude is in a shit ton of trouble, and the "go to an internet cafe" must have been quite aggravating.
Remember in one of the "Home Alone" movies where Kevin's mom calls the police station to ask them to check on her son and the cops are chomping donuts while asking irrelevant questions? That's what this reminds me of.
🇺🇸 Here. I think the embassies are there more to promote business ties than anything else.
Yea an embassy is not a tourist service. It's an international relations office, they'll help you out if it avoids souring relations or if they just have some time and staff to spare. It's definitely not something they're expected to do, let alone be good at.
Embassies are definitely supposed to represent their country in taking care of their citizens abroad and not just high-level diplomacy, wtf bro
That interrogator who lead with Don Chesso's personal issues and then drilled a question about going to Israel... he's reeeeeeaaaally good at his job.
Bro got arrested on charges of being an Israeli spy in Lebanon, gets interrogated for 12 hours, goes on house arrest for several days, and the one time he got stressed out was the time he had to deal with his airline ... How do airlines get away with treating people like this ...
I noted this irony as well XD
@@c0mpu73rguy lol
"He's Muslim but it's ok" is hysterical 😂😂 I would have lost it
This is an incredible story though, watched it through enthralled
If he's really Israeli spy, he would freak out about it, that's why they said that. lol
@@worawatli8952 You have no idea what you're talking about.
@@worawatli8952you do realize that Israel has Muslims working in the military and as spy’s?
@@Flaakk Islamophobia is big in Israel, so it's very likely that it would triggered some reaction from an extreme homophobic person, so they tried that to see if he react.
If he did, they could go from there to see why. It's just how interrogation works, they don't put out jokes for no reason.
Edited later:
Can i take that back? I don't know much about Israel apart from what my muslim acquaintance says here in Thailand, I lack viewpoints.
I should go out more to places, but I don't have money to travel. RareEarth is one of my favorite channels to learn more about the world.
Do you wonder about those 2 to 3 spies they catch every week? Are those really spies or just guys who weren't as lucky as you.
Absolutely. And I did my absolute best not to join them.
I mean especially right now It's virtually certain Mossad has a ton of spies in Lebanon so it's likely at least some of them are.
@@NikhillRao27Na they don't vibe with spy craft in isreal.
@@Trump2024asw 😄🤣
Everything the ISF says, take it with a grain of salt, should be obvious from their buddy who works with CIA 😂
That cop used that comment about your friend and his relationship as an amazing tactic to lower your guard lmao
He got me hook line and sinker bro
I'd like to hope that someone at the Canadian Embassy in Beirut is about to get a serious talking to about how to be useful, and how to not come across as an incompetent bureaucrat when there's a Canadian national in distress. Because with recent events, I worry that there will be an increase of urgent need for such assistance sooner rather than later.
They won't
@@RareEarthSeries Yeah, I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.
The Canadian government is filled with incompetence at all levels now.
There's literally nothing they can do. If they leave the embassy grounds, they themselves might be arrested and disappeared. They would not be the first American embassy staff to do so.
Edit: did the goober not call the US embassy? Did he actually think the *Canadian* embassy would do anything at all? They have no funding, no staff, and no diplomatic (relevant or real) relationship with most nations anyway. There are some Latin American nations who's embassies he could have called, that might have been able to help, as well as some European ones. I don't know why people don't know this, but most embassies will help literally anyone who needs it. They're not magically locked to just their citizens, especially Europe. On top of that US embassies explicitly support Canadians, as well as a few other nations (Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, ect), and are *far* more likely to have the pull to do anything. Still would probably have nothing to do in Lebanon atm, but still, way better chances.
@@ASDeckard dude, he's Canadian, why tf would he call the American embassy???
My biggest take back from this is that Francesco really needs to get over his ex
Of course, the classic, men need to share their feelings immediately turning around into men need to stop having feelings. Way too many upvotes on this comment.
@@XSpamDragonXGetting over a relationship that ended is not "stopping having feelings" and more of working through them and not drowning in misery. What's more is it's a very gender neutral advice, it's not mentally healthy to be stuck in the past and what could have beens for too long. For all people there are times to move on and heal without becoming emotionally unavailable.
Personally, I like to have some feedback on my emotions and be aware how/why I probably feel what I feel, and sort it all out in my head. What you wrote sounds like we don't have any agency in what we feel and think and temporary emotions should rule our lives for longer than it's healthy with no mental work whatsever.
@@octohej6436 I'm upset that people are judging his emotions based on some off-hand jokes in an entirely unrelated video. How can so many people assume he's having an unhealthy response to his feelings based on a couple comments about a text conversation?
@@octohej6436Evan makes one comment about Francesco's texts for a grand total of 12 seconds, and somehow people know he's overreacting?
@@XSpamDragonXit really isnt that deep. People are making light hearted jokes.
I got arrested in the UAE taking a picture of a cool looking tree next to a 12 foot wall. The wall, unbeknownst to me, was the perimeter of a military facility. Luckily the cops were pretty well educated and of the "intelligent" variety. I was only in custody for a couple hours.
I'm thinking the CID guys deliberately chose the silliest keywords they could find for that judge to talk him down from potentially causing an international incident
International incident, I can see it now. "Evan Hadfield's Patrons come together to help him escape imprisonment in Lebanon."
@@ncc74656m tbh I was thinking more along the lines of "Travel journalist son of world famous canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield incarcerated (or dead in prison) over trumped up espionage charges in Lebanon." That would not have been a good look
Nope.
It sounds to me as if Lebanon has more pressing concerns than 'how it would look'.
@@Gillsingyou don't understand how international politics works if you think that.
International diplomacy is all about looks and relationships, and even if you're in war it's of paramount importance to keep a good look about yourself. Because the way foreign countries deal with you is determined by how the public in such countries view you.
Just a note. The armed "martyr poster" was of a militiaman and a Ter-orist from Al Jamaa Al Islamia, a local Muslim Brotherhood militia and a Ter-orist organization, who are currently participating in the war.
Yes was about to comment that. They've allied with Hezbollah despite past animosity due to the civil war in Syria. And the big building in front of it is La Maison de la Communaute Druze, the center of the Druze faith in Lebanon. My house in Beirut is just 10 minutes away haha
Armed martyr is a nice synonym to terrorist 😂
The "martyr" poster is a militant who participated in illegally firing mortars into the golan heights. This is all public and verifiable information.
@@despair_bear illegally fired mortars into the Golan Heights (which are being occupied illegally) - not that I'm on the side of the mortars but you left out a section
@@RareEarthSeries Did you know that virtually ALL of the Golan was aboriginal Jewish lands. Just look at the archaologic proof. Now Israel simply has a bit go it back after they were ATTACKED from the region, The Golan in Jewish hands is NOT illegal as it was taken in a defences war. God bless Israel and Jews worldwide :)
Just the balls to be filming this from such a suspiciously painted kitchen.
...😂
Hmm yes a Delftware themed kitchen, how suspicious.
comrade, no nation owns the colors blue and white.
@@busimagenyeah, Occam’s Razor but still, optics count and I wouldn’t film with those colours if I was him. Any risk given the situation is bad.
@@busimagen imo the only people who would find me sitting in my kitchen odd because of the colour blue are people who look for patterns where they don't exist to invent narratives that conform to narrow worldviews - spending your life worrying about the opinions of this group is useless, as they'll always find something else to focus on to confirm their beliefs
But sometimes a cigar is just a cigar
As a Lebanese I can't remove my palm from my head at the fact that this happened. I'm sorry you went through this experience, and as a long time fan I'm thrilled that you're doing a series about Lebanon.
It sounds like you otherwise had a wonderful time, and I can't wait to hear about your journey.
Much love!
Don't stress it. I absolutely loved Lebanon!
@@antoinek.8478 Lebanon does sound like a marvelous place in times of peace!
Also, I was wondering if that’s not a rude question, to ask how has the war affected you and your close ones? I can’t imagine it’s been a quiet couple of months.
@@Yotam1703 It has certainly brought another level of unnecessary stress. It is manageable, but it's also piling on top of already-existing challenges.
@@Yotam1703I'm lebanese too, and some people may disagree with me on this, but the war is only in the south, and so if you're not in the south, nothing is actually happening, people are partying and going on with their life normally.
@@Yotam1703Life in Lebanon hasn’t changed since the war unless you’re in the south. Only difference for anyone else is the occasional sonic boom by the Israelis to scare or threaten us. Though Lebanon has been having constant looming issues for decades. Even myself, just being a child of the 2000s, I’ve seen many things first-hand and it kinda mentally prepares you for these things. The economic decline plus the 2006 war and all these issues that come and go. It’s nothing new to us.
Hello, a resident of Beirut here, I'm gonna be listing a few things that I found I need to note:
1-The banners at 3:25 are as follows: Top is not a political banner (the elections were a couple years ago actually) it's a banner for the month of Ramadan that says "The Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) said: The person fasting has two joys, a joy when he breaks his fast and a joy when he meets his God" as for the bottom banner, it's indeed of a dead militant, but he's not from Hezbollah, he's from the Al Jamaa al Islamiyya who are the Muslim Brotherhood in Lebanon, both banners are by them. Add to it the statue was that of former prime minister Rashid Karami who was assassinated in the late 80s, so this area is one with many sunnis as opposed to areas with Hezbollah support that are mostly populated by shiites.
2- At 8:50 I wanted to explain something. Recently the Israeli mossad has been recruiting people through the internet, usually through "job opportunities" that end up being odd jobs for a lot of money, some of them being photographing something of no value or dropping an empty box in another city, weird stuff like that, which builds up the trust and obedience between the would be spy and the handler. There has been a bunch of recent cases like this that were caught by the Internal Security Forces.
3-At 14:25. You don't get instantly sent to jail, however you do get locked up before you appear before the military court that prosecutes spy cases, and the military court is notorious for sentencing actual spies for not that long amount of time. So you'd probably be found innocent and let go easy, considering you are innocent lol. Now I'm not sure how the Court deals with cases as of now but I'm going off information I have from at least half a year ago.
4-At 26:12 Detectives work under a general prosecutor in the area they operate in, the general prosecutor is a judge, so these officers were not at liberty to take the decision of letting the man go as that kind of decision is taken by a judge be it the general prosecutor or the investigative judge depending on how far the investigation went.
5-It's nice to see that despite this negative experience you enjoyed our country and I'm also happy to see you recognise that your actions at this time of hardships, despite being innocent, played a role in this incident.
This story about Internet recruiting doesn't pass the sniff test. Presumably Israel has much more refined ways of getting intelligence and agents on the ground than hiring people to take photos on the Internet. It's totally something your ISF would say to glorify itself and maybe a chance to arrest some people you don't like or something. Don't be so trusty of your government ;) Peace.
#2 - Iran has been doing the same thing - they reach out to young religious Israeli Jews who don't have a lot of exposure to the outside world and ask them to do odd jobs for a lot of money.
Thank you for you post. I hope someday I can be a tourist in Beirut and that you can be a tourist in Akko.
@ElisaAvigayil
Israelis always put the finger on Iran, when they do shady or just appalling stuff or blame it on something or someone else.
We are behaving like criminals, but look what Iran is doing😮
I don't support either, but it's just something I noticed.
Thank you for explaining this perfectly.
Maybe the concierge was subtly trying to encourage you....
Like: "Don't worry Mr. Hadfield. We know you're not a spy. We'll make up your room for when you return."
Yes, absolutely.
I think he was just on autopilot saying what he'd normally say when a guest was leaving the room, but he was a sweetheart he was so happy when I returned that night
@@RareEarthSeries so did they make up the room by that time?
I personally thought this was hilarious. That's what hotels do. They offer you another room, another view.
I knew it: you're a spy for some country while your dad is a spy for an entire planet!
Or is it "spy *on* an entire planet???" 🤔
@@ncc74656m Martian plant for sure.
@@tob007 damn those martians! Trying to steal the secret of why the ciniminies taste so good!
@@05bastille No idea what ciniminies are but i want to know why they taste so good too. Guess im a Martian spy too, just a lower paygrade.
Pretty sure his dad went to space to film a music video. For Canada, and to show America how to well, space. Much, love from America of course.
To use any drone in Lebanon you need a permit from the ministry of defense, that’s how serious it is and you droned an old hotel occupied by the Lebanese Army….
There is a Lebanese action buddy cop movie waiting to be made called "Good Cop, Bad Cop, Muslim Cop"
Also @38:22 might be the hardest I've laughed in months!
This is Huge Cop erasure
Hey dont forget Giant Cop
"He is Muslim, but it's okay" 🤷♂
Not the worst tagline I have heard, lol
Evan can write a screenplay for the Canadian/Lebanese mashup - "Bon Cop, Bad Cop, Muslim Cop"
I imagine Muslim Cop being the Middle Eastern version of that coworker that says you need Jesus in your life.
Never in my life had 50+ minutes flown faster than they did watching this video. The sort of "disclaimer" about Lebanon at the end speaks volumes of you. My grandpa's late brother was wounded in 1957 during the UNEF mission at Sinai and he spent some time at the hospital in Beirut afterwards before being flown back home to Yugoslavia. He said the Lebanese locals were amazingly friendly. Thank you so much for sharing this story!
Evan, I’ve written this before. We follow you because of stories like this. Nothing on TH-cam is like this.
Episodes like this reinforce my perception that Evans is the best storyteller in all of media.
EASILY.
he truly is, such good stories, love this man
He's good, and I don't say that lightly.
"Do you want our maids to make it up for you?" 🤣 The words of a man truly not willing to buy into the BS anymore, just wants to do his job and go home.
The real MVP of this story^^
Hes probably so sick of this routine
wow after bein a spy against china your essay now includes definitly not a spy
Wait you're not Mossad? Unsubscribed!
😂
Someone in Lebanon's CID is now having to read this comment lol.
😂
I am sosad you'ren't mossad
💯
I love how you were able to help us be there with you, step by step. Presenting it in such a balanced way too. You could have just been bitter, but you chose to find the positive. You have a gift with words, it is what has kept me coming back again, and again.
Mec, ton histoire est incroyable. La façon dont tu es capable de nous capturer, c'est incroyable.
Tu n'as pas perdu ta semaine au Liban, tu as une des histoires les plus intrigantes que j'ai entendu de ma vie.
I love story telling because it helps to make meaning of things that happen in the world. I really appreciate your master story telling!
Wow! What an experience! Your description of the people of Lebanon is spot on- they are the most welcoming people I have ever met. Even the experience with the ISF. and local police reveal the character of the people in that they have the BEST sense of humor and ultimately, that is what saved you in the end. I hope you are able to return and complete this series on this beautiful country.
Wait. Your pops is Chris Hadfield? Woah. That is so cool, I had absolutely no idea.
Same, what a surprise!
If you check out the older videos on this channel you can see some of the stuff Chris uploaded here.
Isn't it wild to find out the guy you think is amazing is even more amazing? It's very much a Ron Howard type situation- Dad was a great man, Ron is a great man, his kids are great people. Same with the Hadfield clan.
@@iamperplexed4695 you must be fun at parties, sir buzz killington. jeeze.
@@iamperplexed4695"Just stating the facts" are you? I doubt that.
I'm not canadian, but did see hadfield's cover of 'space oddity' like a decade ago from the ISS, and thought it was phenomenal. and you're saying he was "just an astronaut" like being an astronaut means nothing, it's kinda a big deal.
I subscribed to this channel only a few years ago, and didn't realize there was any connection between the two at the time and think it's nifty.
again, you must be real fun at parties. If no one has ever said it to you before; don't be an insufferable pedant.
Holy Cow…that was riveting. You, sir, have become a masterful storyteller as 3/4 into your telling I realized I was stressed for you…even though: there you are, calm and kempt, in a lovely (beautiful) kitchen relaying this unbelievable series of events👏👏👏
Honestly, this video freaked me out a bit (then again - I am just a sheltered Danish guy), but I am happy that everything turned out okay, and you tell the story beautifully and with compassion (as you always do). Thank you for what you do, Evan, and I can't wait for the new series! Lebanon looks like a beautiful country.
Watching this was an emotional rollecoster, and by the end, you had me cry even without a script. Thank you for making videos, and I wish you all the best
I've been looking forward to hearing the story for this.
The "A-bomb" thing is a funny way to frame it 😄
But after the A-bomb came the H-bomb.
Chris Hadfield is not just an astronaut, he's the world's most recognisable working astronaut of the ISS era.
Had you've been detained in the mist of the recent pagers and walkie talkies explosions, you would've never gotten out.
I keep saying each episode is your best. Thanks for your struggle for humanity. You are a bright light in a very dim world. I hope he gets over the breakup, it’s bad losing someone, I know.
I was wondering where have you gone, I'm glad you're good now!
honestly, your entire life is the best cover story for an israeli spy.
I'm more suspicious now than ever before
It’s the receding hairline. Looks like you are wearing a yamaka without trying. 😂
The politician venerated in that memorial is Rasheed Karami, former prime minister who was assassinated using a bomb planted in the army helicopter that was transporting him. This was in 1986 in the middle of the civil war. His assassin is a present day politician, active and everything.
The fact Geagea has been pardoned from two different d**th-penalties is astounding.
@@Constable_Chud not just him but all the other unsavory thugs just as much. A matter of time before the full collapse.
@@nassimabed Bibi was behind the 'removal' of Yitzhak Rabin's breathing privileges. He proudly led protests against his own Prime Minister that got him k*lled, which then allowed Bibi to take power in a rushed election and immediately start overturning all of the work that had been done to bring peace between neighbors.
When he was asked to moderate his tone in those protests he led, he _refused._
Then when it came down to accountability for it happening, Bibi took none of the blame.
In other words, they (Likud) overthrew their own government to put Bibi into power, and it's been downhill in terms of mediation of the M.E. ever since.
Nobody ever talks about it.
I guess it's one of those forbidden 'lashon hara' types of topics.
The same behaviors that they accuse others of, or that they point a finger of mockery towards,
they are quite often _guilty of_ themselves.
This feels like a key and peele skit
Especially the watching Robocop twice... back to back bit
I MET YOUR DAD NO WAY! i was super young, moment still inspires me to this day. keep up the good work, you're doing things just as great!
You could turn this into an episode of a sitcom, and you'd have to change NOTHING.
as captivating as your usual content. 50 minutes flew by. Excited for the luckily not deleted season
You would not be able to get a lawyer in America if the CIA thought you were a spy, don't kid yourself. xD
Of course you'd be able to get yourself a lawyer after the CIA got their hands on you! It's just in the afterlife.
I think that works for every country.
Except you do? Charles Lieber and Yanqing Ye were both apprehended by the CIA and given lawyers. Just make shit up I guess 😂
@@jovand6606 I'm blocking on another country that has the equivalent of our prison at Guantanamo Bay. Bear in mind a lot of the prisoners there-for decades-were guilty of absolutely nothing, were tortured, and never met a single human being like the Lebanese security officers who kept Evan safe and let him go.
actually as a canadian citizen he probably would be able to get a lawyer, even if the CIA was the org that detained him. too messy to mess with canadian citizens
I’m glad you’re safe. Your content fills me with a great passion
telling a million+ people you're not a spy is definitely something a spy would totally do/say ...
46:55 the fact you got all of it back is amazing. That probably wouldn't happen in the US
I travelled also but your experience reminds me that your not home in these countries. Important to always be polite and respectful in these situation. Thanks for sharing!!
You did not mention the pastries in Beirut.
In my experience, extraordinary!
Glad you had such a good time in Lebanon, despite this! How lucky you have no obviously Jewish friends or family in your message history or contacts.
I'm afraid even without the drone, the suspicious footage, even without anything in my internet history I lack the confidence in Lebanese friendliness. I would be marked by accident of birth.
I have many Jewish friends and family, but I am clever enough to avoid the questions that highlight them
Evan, you are through and through a person of integrity. It is so beautiful to see a person who really cares, regardless of who it is about. Someone who has a moral compass which is aligned through compassion. Thank you for existing and sharing your findings and views and making everything more bearable. ❤️
38:10 I burst out laughing at this tension release. Thank you for this amazing story, for telling us that this didn't happen because it was Lebanon, and for all that you do.
You got off because they misinterpreted a joke you made as anti-semetic and thought it was a good thing. That's wild but expected.
I'm almost certain 'this exonerated you' meant that this is the evidence that the judge will find convincing. The ISF guys knew this referred to the sports team. They knew he has been to Israel. They were sort of setting him up so that the judge would allow him to go free.
its actually called disgusting, he got off bc he agreed that jew/israeli = bad which meant that he was good. the word youre looking for is disgusting not wild
Relax it's just a joke , plus these stuff cannot be undermined because espionage is happening at an alarming rate and you cannot be too careful with our aggressive neighbors
@@alihasanabdullah7586 I remember the sports team incident vaguely, he could have just said he is a travel vlogger covering events in the Middle East and that's what he was doing in Israel/Palestine. Calling it Palestine does not change where he was. I think it was a Tel Aviv Maccabi team that went to Europe if I am not mistaken. It's not a big deal until you hide it.
I love the idea that they now have some random guy in the CID permanently watching his channel
I would guess it is multiple, and a judge. :)
Bro got saved by antisemitism XD
Bro why are you hearting that?
@@00000000000101010 Because it's true. The judge being anti-semitic and taking his benign text as anti-semitism ironically got him off the false charges."
@@snowballeffect7812 glad to hear it was a benign text.
@@00000000000101010 I'm glad I could clarify, but it should have been obvious.
The funny thing is that he can claim it's not anti-semitic and is a harmless joke, but when viewed through a lens of someone who grew up in an Arab country, it was a legitimate anti-semitic joke that would have been said by anyone around.
Such a scary experience, I'm glad you were able to get out of it unscathed. Still, incredibly interesting story.
However, I can't avoid being worried that many other innocent people were caught and couldn't talk their way out of it.
What a great Story!! Wich you the best! Best regards from a German-Lebanese
Flying a drone without permission and filming military installations would get you into serious trouble even in the West. I'm somewhat surprised they didn't press this line of investigation further. In my country there isn't a year when some tourist doesn't make it into the news by getting arrested and fined for accidentally filming a military building. Finding out it was intentional would be guaranteed jail time.
oh man, those Arma 3 developers from bohemia interactive, the poor sods lmfao.
humor kept my sanity while i was detained in lisbon. the cops and me had eachother laughing in no time. however, being alaskan with an ak drivers license helps break the ice every time. well done, evan. please offer my sincerest alaskan regards to don cesso.
We catch 2-3 spies a week. lol
Amazing storytelling Evan, especially given that you said this off the top of your head. I didn't even notice that 50 minutes have passed.
Looking forward to the series!
Lebanon can be a dangerous place, but so can just about any other place in the world. It sounds like the people there on the whole are good-hearted people and that's what defines a country, not it's bureaucracy.
This was the best thing I've seen on youtube in years. This felt like real. Refreshed it has broken the phonies on the internet this last decades strangle hold. Them going through your texts, because we all have those, was me also self reflecting on my message history
Weird way to find out that you are the son of one of Canada's best but also glad to hear you are safe. Looking forward to the new season!
I just hope that Francesco is better. There's someone beautiful and wonderful for him out there.
That happens also for UN workers.
What an incredible video. Your positivity after everything is so heartwarming. They were right about you being a good person.
Grow a ponytail, you do have a spy's haircut.
Glad we didn't lose you Evan.
😁
Awesome story. Loved your channel. Love it even more. So glad you made it out but pls keep telling your stories! Warm hello from the Philippines 🇵🇭
Random dude: I just caught a spy
Police officer: how do you know?
Random dude: *TRUST ME BRO*
Right after: *60 police officers convinced*
2-3 Israeli spies caught per week are probably just regular people that weren't lucky enough to have anti-semitic jokes on their phones.
Some of them do have actaull convincing evedince as one guy was intergated and then his 2nd phone rang and they told him to open it and activate speaker so he did and he actually turned out to be a spy@@jayteegamble
@@road8662(*kvetching intensifies*)
You are one of THE best story tellers of our time. The fact this was one big take and you told it so eloquently whilst keeping us engaged throughout is incredible. Your talents pervade in all your videos too.
I have seen several creator youtube posts with similar experiences. This is ex post advice, but back up all material (cloud), always have a witness, when you leave your hotel room assume you will be robbed or kidnapped and plan accordingly. Assume at all times your phone will be stolen or destroyed and again plan accordingly.
Backing things up online is practically impossible given what I do
@@RareEarthSeries yep uploading 4k videos at third world internet speed is maybe worst than lebanese prison and the internet trafic is going to be more sus than just recording video.
Even in major hollywood productions richer than god, we struggle to keep backups from DIT to production office back home while in a remote area. And we've had camera & drives impounded by various other governments, just like this. We're just be glad it wasn't ransomed back to us, because that can happen in places like Egypt.
Totally, I did this when travelling through sketchy areas. Laptop running rsync to my NAS. Backup for the NAS too. I don't know how much this guy was recording, but I had about 3TB uploaded. I also blanked my phone and laptop when going through the airport. That part was a huge pain, but good to know I could pull it off if I lost my devices. I used Syncthing to copy stuff off my phone automatically. If you do it all automatically, you can just leave your laptop chugging away and even with bad internet, it will eventually come through for you.
@@cyrex686 I hope by the time I travel again I understand what you just wrote, thanks for posting.
Incredible story! I love your work as a journalist and the side adventures that come with it! Thank you for sharing
I'm from Israel, I have nothing with the Mossad or IDF. I hope that one day we will have peace with Lebanon and all the Arab world.
stop killing children that might be a start
May you grow old enough to see the day that happens.
we want nothing to do with you
@@richardballan2013 Well, sir, if you're in the Middle East: we don't go anywhere, and neither do you. We can either live together in coexistence or ruin the other's life. It's your life, your choice. I've made mine: I'm happy to live with all of our neighbors in peace.
@@exx8eran there is no point in trying to speak with them. Their identity is based on hatred. Even without us they are killing each other.
Flying a drone without permission and filming military installations would get you into serious trouble anywhere in the world. I'm somewhat surprised they didn't press this line of investigation further.
To me when you say they let you go because "they know you are a good person", and they catch "2-3 guys every week" tells me there is a clear panic in lebenon, and i would question you feeling good and not terrified about the whole thing.
It would have been so much easier to for them to say "we caught an Israeli spy!", cause it sounds like it happens
They are probably pushed by the high command to produce Israeli spies anyone will due.
Been to the GCC and Dubai in particular dozens of times in the last 15 years, but made my first trip to Lebanon in early May. What an amazing place! I agree with every good thing you said, but you forgot to mention the FOOD! The scenery, people, culture, cuisine, history (Byblos and Ba'albek particularly), EVERYTHING! Only place in the entire Middle East I have seen I can understand them fighting for.
A chinese ex colleague of mine ended up in a similar situation in Canada, at the airport. They went through all of his emails, Facebook messages, etc. And even after it was clear he wasn't a spy or criminal, he was just shipped back home.
That sucks
Wow,what a story,mate I am native and during the war I had my bad time ,,as you mentioned,it's a war time and people on edge, lucky they did not keep you any longer,we love great people and we really say sorry for what happened.we love to see you again there,by the way you documentary is fantastic and so informative,cheers mate...
Greetings from Los Angeles! I’m Lebanese, next time come with me and I’ll take you to where the war zone is/was you’ll be safe with me and you’ll get to experience southern Lebanese culture!
I'd loooooove to go to the south and east, it hurt me deeply to be forced away from it this trip
What the one cop said at the end, that they let you go because they knew that you were a good guy and they knew you didn’t deserve to be locked up, that gave me a bit of hope that people can be good to each other. Thank you for sharing this story even, I’m glad I heard it.
As a Lebanese and long time fan of this channel, I'm thrilled that you are doing a series on Lebanon. I always hoped you would as I felt that our little weird slice of the world would be perfect for your type of videos. I'm so sorry you went through all that, relieved that it worked out and glad that the experience didn't taint your views of the country. Lebanon is a tragic beautiful weird mess of a country, and I'm glad it's getting a series by someone who knows how to do it justice.
Amazing story, the honest story telling of all the relevant details is greatly appreciated!
Now there's a story to tell your grandkids.
First time watching this channel, I knew I recognized the voice/mannerisms. Your dad has been an inspiration for me forever!
I just want to say that I had to pause and read every single bit of that "CBC" news screenshot.
Glad you're okay.
Same 😂😂😂
That CBC screen was uproarious and I love it.
Your closing statements are exactly right. Beyond that? You got lucky, dude. No doubt.
Holy shit your dad is chris Hadfield???
yep
Same 😂
Evan gets called Chris multiple times as well 😂
I had absolutely no idea about this either 🤯
I just found out as well
23:42 - that fake CBC article was *chef's kiss*.
38:40 - Don Cesso. My goodness.
45:00 - Exoneration through wildly inappropriate humour is exactly the Rare Earth ending we should've seen coming.
The best situations are the dangerously absurd ones with the single caveat of "...that you walked away from". Swear to god you could make the back of a box of Shreddies riveting.
"I hope you enjoy this season, it's a really good one." - He says that every time and has yet to be wrong.
32:30 That sounds more like anxiety than boredom.