Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. (Genesis 11:7)

If it weren’t for the story of the tower of Babel, perhaps Ayman, a lawyer in Egypt, would never have been arrested.  He was reported in September by the owner of the Internet cafe in which he was sitting.  His offense — learning Hebrew.

The cafe owner claimed he noticed Ayman speaking Italian, French and Hebrew on the phone, and surfing the Mossad website.

Ayman  told Egypt’s al-Nahar TV, in a clip posted and translated by watchdog group MEMRI, that he is “the kind of person who always wants to do unusual things,” and that he hoped the additional language would give him a professional edge.  Few Egyptian lawyers speak Hebrew.  He claims he made the decision to learn the language before the recent round of bloodshed in the country.

During the interview, TV host Riham Saeed asked if Ayman was aware that, according to both the Quran and the New Testament, “America and Israel have devised a global plot to take over the Middle East.”

Ayman had only just begun learning Hebrew when he was arrested, mastering the alphabet and some basic greetings.  “I was on my way to learn the Hebrew language, and Allah willing, I will,” he said.  At the time of his arrest, he only knew three or four sentences.

Ayman believes normalization of relations with Israel is a realistic possibility.  The cafe owner rejected his approach.  If the Egyptian people refused normalization, the individual could not instigate it on his own.

“That’s unacceptable,” the cafe owner said. “He’s got to be a spy.”  The owner also claimed one of the Hebrew messages Ayman received read, “Shalom Ayman, you are the State of Israel’s eternal ambassador in Egypt.”