Majed El-Shafie, a Muslim-born Christian reverend and human rights activist from Egypt who escaped a death sentence in his home country, spoke to The Jerusalem Post on his journey from political fugitive to fighting for freedom.
A founder of One Free World International, a global human rights organization operating in 20 countries, he still carries the scars that are permanent reminders – both physical and metaphorical – of the torture he endured in Egypt’s infamous Abu Zabal Prison.
Shafie was born into a prominent Muslim family in Egypt. His early life seemed destined for privilege and success: his father was a lawyer, his mother a banker, and his uncle even served as a general during the Nasser and Sadat eras.
But it was the library in his bedroom that would ultimately alter the course of his life. Filled with books about freedom, religious liberty, and human rights, these volumes planted seeds that would later bloom into unwavering conviction.
Even as a child, Shafie questioned the prevailing narratives. At nine years old, during a history lesson about Egypt’s peace agreement with Israel in which the teacher explained that it’s only a temporary truce, he raised his hand with an innocent question that would earn him a harsh lesson in conformity.
“If this is peace,” he asked, “why are we talking about war? Why is it only temporary and not forever?” The teacher responded by striking him five times on each hand. When he returned home in tears, his mother asked if he was crying from the pain. “No,” he replied, “I’m crying because I don’t know what I did wrong.” His mother’s response would shape his worldview: “We don’t hate anyone,” she said, “not Jews, not anyone.”
At the age of 18, while studying law at Alexandria University, Shafie made a decision that would upend his life: he converted to Christianity. “When you read both the Quran and the Bible,” he explained, “you realize that faith is between a person and their God.” However, the choice that he made, which he was convinced was a personal one, would soon thrust him into the heart of his country’s dictatorial mechanisms.
Under Hosni Mubarak’s merciless regime, Shafie established an underground Christian human rights organization, which grew to 26,000 members within two years. He authored a book about the history of minorities in Egypt: Christians, Jews, Bahá’ís, Armenians and others. But at 1:30 AM on August 15, 1998, five police officers appeared at his office door, and what followed would test the limits of human endurance.
Enduring torture through faith
The Abu Zabal Prison, described by Shafie as “hell on earth,” became his home for seven days, though for him, it felt like seven years. “Twenty-five percent of the prison is underground,” he described. “This is where innocent people are tortured in specialized departments. The guards all wear masks and refer to each other by numbers instead of names so that no one would be recognizable.”
Shafie was subjected to systematic torture sessions. “They had a system in which every day the type of torture would grow more severe. Sessions lasted about 3-4 hours, with 20-minute breaks in between. A military doctor stood by, not to stop the torture but to ensure that I remained conscious throughout the ordeal,” he added grimly.
“They started by shaving my head,” Shafie recounted, “and then they repeatedly dunked my head in containers of scalding hot and freezing cold water.” But when they asked for information about his associates, he responded with defiance: “I told them I hadn’t showered in a while and was enjoying the water, and that I looked more handsome without my hair.” His voice carried an unexpected hint of humor as he shared this memory, exemplifying his belief that showing pain only gratifies the torturers.
The next day the torture sessions escalated. Shafie was hung upside down, he was beat with sticks and pipes and had cigarettes turned off on his skin, until the guards’ arms tired and they sent to call for more. “When I was returned to my cell,” he recounted, “I could see the trail of my own blood.”
PERHAPS THE most extraordinary moment came during the third day of his imprisonment. The guards used to foretell Shafie what sort of nefarious torture awaits him the next day to keep him worried during the night, and the guards revealed that the following day entailed introducing attack dogs into his cell.
“I thanked God for the gift of life,” he remembered. “I said if you give me more life, I would do the same thing again – I don’t regret my faith. But I had one request: kill me before morning. I couldn’t bear the pain anymore, and I was afraid that under extreme torture, I might talk.”
The following day, when his torturers brought in three German shepherds, Shafie had already experienced long hours of fear. As he stood huddled in a corner, protecting his face and vital organs and waiting for the bites and scratches, a scene echoing biblical accounts took place: the dogs refused to attack. Another trio of dogs was brought in, but they too did not comply with the order to attack him, and one even licked his face.
“When you read the Bible, you might think miracles only happened in the past,” he reflected, “but they’re the same miracles happening today.” The guards took away the dogs and the day ended there.
On the fourth day, something odd happened. “A tall guard who looked like [Arnold] Schwarzenegger approached me with a deal: names in exchange for freedom, money, a large house, a car, even women – anything I would wish,” he recalled.
His response was characteristically bold. He said he liked the idea of the deal, but first asked for kebab and tea, which the guards granted him. Then, when prompted again to talk about his group, he said he would give them the name of his leader and casually said: “Jesus Christ.” The answer earned him two and a half days tied to a cross in a dark room, followed by salt and lemon rubbed into freshly made cuts on his shoulders, after which he finally passed out.
SHAFIE was hospitalized for three months and then placed under house arrest for almost a year. The tortured man then faced court charges accusing him of “inciting rebellion against the regime,” “attempting to change the state religion,” and “worshiping Jesus.” “I told them that if loving Jesus was a crime, then I am most definitely guilty,” the defiant Christian reminisced, adding that his sentence was no less than the death penalty.
But the doomed man chose not to wait for his death. With the help of some friends, Shafie escaped to Alexandria and a hiding place next to the local police station, and later made his way to Sinai.
“I knew that Egypt was surrounded on all sides with Islamic countries hostile to the likes of me – except for one place, which was Israel,” he recounted. “I knew it was a democracy, and decided Israel was my last chance.”
In a daring escape, he crossed from Taba to Eilat on a jet ski, navigating between Egyptian and Israeli patrol boats. “I knew they would shoot if they caught me,” he said, “so I tried to position myself where neither side would risk hitting the other.”
Upon arriving in Israel, Shafie was detained – first in Eilat and then in a prison in Beersheba. His time in Israel, though brief, left a lasting impression, as even in detention he noticed striking differences from his experience in Egypt.
“The guards would talk to me, knowing I wasn’t a criminal,” he recalled, highlighting that he did not know that a respectable interaction with a member of law enforcement was even possible.
“But what really surprised me was seeing people in the streets – just being human! They were laughing, walking, living normal lives. No one screamed at me for being an Arab. They were just people, like anyone else.”
Fighting for minority rights
After receiving help from Amnesty International and the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ), Shafie arrived in Canada in the year 2000, where he has been leading the human rights organization which he founded, One Free World International (OFWI), in an attempt to advocate for religious minorities worldwide.
The organization aims at assisting persecuted Christians and Uyghurs in China, combating antisemitism, and supporting various religious minorities including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Yazidis. “Every night, I still see my nightmares,” he admitted. “I keep my shoes from Egypt, so I never forget. I wasn’t created for a 9-to-5 job – I was created for my calling, and this is my calling.”
Following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the human rights activist returned to the Jewish state, where he produced, along with director Chris Atkins, a powerful documentary named Dying to Live – an investigation into the October 7 massacre through interviews, archival footage and on-the-ground reporting, with a focus on the rise of antisemitism and Israel’s quest for peace – in order to counter what he described as “propaganda promoted in the West.”
“This visit was about closing a circle,” he explained. “Just as Israel stood by me, I stand by Israel now.” He described his return as a sort of coming home – he remembered the language, loved the food, and connected with the people he had met years ago.
During his visit, Shafie also spoke at the Lawyer House (Beit Hapraklit) in Tel Aviv, hosted by Attorney Dr. Gideon Fisher, who acts in the legal arena against Hamas and its supporters; Attorney Amit Bachar, head of the Israeli Bar Association; and other prominent personnel from the legal and political sphere.
Fisher, who also serves as Chairman of the Forum for International Dispute Resolution at the Bar Association, opened the event by calling on President Isaac Herzog to award Shafie with a medal for his support and activity for Israel and the Jewish people.
SHAFIE’S criticism of current events is sharp and uncompromising. He expressed shock, both at the Israeli security establishment’s failure to foresee and thwart the attack, and at the celebrations that followed the massacre in the Gaza border communities. “It wasn’t just Hamas,” he noted grimly.
“When they took the hostages, regular civilians celebrated over the bodies of kidnapped women – the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen in my life. And yes, should another election take place – Hamas would for sure win.”
Equally direct in addressing the surge of antisemitism in the West, the freedom fighter challenged pro-Palestinian protesters with pointed questions about their selective outrage. “Where were you when Bashar al-Assad massacred his citizens? When Saudi Arabia attacked Yemen? When Iran killed its women for showing their hair? When the Uyghurs were put in camps?”
Nearing the conclusion of his interview with the Post, Shafie conveyed three different messages.
“To the Palestinians I say – free Gaza from Hamas. They don’t have any respect for minorities, they steal from the people. They’ve known for years that they were going to carry out the massacre and they haven’t built a single shelter,” he said.
“To the international community: how can you believe Hamas’s claims and numbers? An organization which raped, murdered and killed children in their beds. When the ICJ [International Court of Justice] placed the Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] beside [Hamas military leader] Mohammad Deif, saying that they don’t even know if he’s alive – this was a disgrace. This means that they don’t have any reliable information on the ground,” Shafie said.
“To the Israelis I say – never give up. After every night comes day, after every storm comes clear skies, and after every blow comes victory. See how Hamas suddenly united the people of Israel. They can kill believers, but they cannot kill belief. Just like on October 7: they can kill our bodies, but they can’t kill our soul.”