Dan Brotman, a Jewish graduate student at the London School of Economics (LSE), was arrested in Lebanon and held in prison for six days, during which he was tortured, denied medical treatment and accused of being an Israeli spy. “We’re back to an era where people openly view Jewish existence as criminal,” Brotman said in an interview with the British Jewish newspaper The Jewish Chronicle following his release.
Brotman, 38, had been traveling in Syria last month as part of a large group of Western tourists visiting the country. His goal was to speak with the last remaining Jews there after the fall of the Assad regime. The group was returning to London via Lebanon, a country Brotman had previously visited three times without incident.
He has visited 98 countries, including Iran and Lebanon, where he once visited a Jewish cemetery. But this time, when it came time to cross from Syria into Lebanon, he was stopped at passport control.
Unlike on his prior visits, all tourists at the border crossing were asked to write down their mother’s name—Lebanese authorities reportedly wanted to ensure that none had Jewish mothers. Shortly after, he was asked if he had served in the Israel Defense Forces. Before he could answer, he was separated from the rest of his group and his personal belongings were confiscated.
He was then taken to what he described as a “filthy cell without water or natural light.” According to him, while he waited there, a Lebanese soldier repeatedly shouted at him, “Israeli soldier.” Brotman tried to convince the officer questioning him that he had been required to enlist in the IDF after immigrating to Israel at age 18, that he had served only in an administrative role, and had been discharged after just nine months. He repeatedly asked to speak with the U.S. Embassy, but was told each time to wait “until tomorrow.” Throughout the interrogation, Brotman said his Jewish identity was the constant source of suspicion.
During his detention, Brotman was denied access to essential medication for a chronic illness. When being transferred between cells, he was shackled, and when moved to another city in eastern Lebanon, he said he was placed in the dirtiest cell he had ever seen, “with feces smeared on the walls.”
He was later transferred to Beirut, handcuffed in the back seat of a pickup truck, where the interrogation continued. He again tried to persuade the interrogators that he was not an Israeli spy but simply a tourist who happened to hold Israeli citizenship. He recalled drawing strength from the message Rachel Goldberg-Polin had sent to her son Hersh before he was murdered in captivity: “Just survive!”
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While imprisoned, Brotman kept a secret journal, telling Lebanese officials it was simply preparation for his final exams. In reality, he used the journal to document his thoughts and emotions throughout the ordeal. “What I came to learn," he shared, "is that we are hated by some people just for existing.”
According to Brotman, after his release from prison, he was blindfolded and handcuffed while driven through Hezbollah-controlled areas on the way to the airport. He had been told someone from the U.S. Embassy would meet him there—but no one came. “It was anxiety-inducing. I felt so abandoned.,” Brotman said. “I was harmed psychologically, and I should have received more support, but I was just left to my own devices.”
Brotman was born in Boston and immigrated to Israel at 18. He later returned to the United States and eventually moved to South Africa at age 23 to complete his undergraduate thesis, staying there for a decade. He holds South African, American, and Israeli passports and has permanent residency in Canada, where he moved in 2020.