From CTV.ca:

For BBC journalist Alan Johnston, his time as a captive in the Gaza Strip reminds him of the adage that freedom is like air -- you only really notice it when it's gone.

"I had taken everyday freedoms of life completely for granted, as we all do, and I only really noticed their catastrophic loss when they were gone," he told CTV.ca on Wednesday.

"It's a sad thing, but I think you have to have been a prisoner of some kind, your freedom has to have been taken from you completely, for you to completely understand its importance and value and beauty."