A Syrian Father’s Journey to Find His Son

Summary

A Syrian Father’s Journey to Find His Son

Podcast: The Journal
Hosts: Kate Linebaugh and Ryan Knutson
Episode Release Date: April 28, 2025
Produced by: Spotify and The Wall Street Journal
Additional Reporters: Ben Solomon, Belle Cushing, Arub Hamoud, Rasha Ali

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Introduction: Suleiman Al Yusuf’s Unwavering Search

A heart-wrenching tale of hope, despair, and resilience unfolds as Suleiman Al Yusuf, a father of seven from outside Damascus, has spent the last twelve years searching for his missing son, Shadi.

Kate Linebaugh introduces Suleiman Al Yusuf:

"Suleiman Al Yusuf is a father of seven. He lives outside Damascus and works odd jobs. Twelve years ago, his son Shadi went missing and he's been looking for him ever since."
[00:10]

First Impressions: Ben Solomon’s Encounter with Suleiman

Ben Solomon recounts his initial meeting with Suleiman, highlighting his gentle demeanor and relentless determination despite limited resources.

Ben Solomon:

"He was just very kind, very gentle and really just soft spoken. It was clear that he didn't come from a lot of money... he was going to do whatever he could."
[00:34]

The Clue: A Fateful Video

Suleiman shares the pivotal moment that rekindled his hope: a video capturing the release of prisoners after the fall of Syria's dictator. Among the crowd, he believes he spotted his son.

Kate Linebaugh:

"Suleiman showed Ben the only clue that he had that his son was alive. A video... Suleiman pointed to one man who he said is his son... if you put him among a million people, I could still pick him out."
[01:03]

Ben Solomon:

"And when he showed us the video, I mean, it was shocking."
[01:51]

The Disappearance: Shadi’s Last Days

Shadi, 25 at the time of his disappearance in 2013, was described by his parents as dignified and ambitious. Despite his parents' efforts to keep him safe amidst Syria’s turmoil, tragedy struck when he ventured into Damascus against their wishes.

Ben Solomon:

"So Suleiman told us that the last day that he saw his son, the son was trying to go out, trying to work... He took the car keys away and hid them so his son wouldn't sneak off."
[04:19]

Kate Linebaugh:

"Shadi disappeared. At a time of tremendous conflict in Syria... Suleiman had wanted his family to keep a low profile."
[04:39]

Years of Uncertainty: The Struggle for Answers

For years, Suleiman combated systemic issues that made locating missing persons nearly impossible. The oppressive Assad regime indiscriminately arrested men of military age, plunging families like Suleiman's into prolonged uncertainty and despair.

Ben Solomon:

"This was a systemic machine of disappearing people that were opposed to the government... there was no recourse to try to find what happened..."
[06:48]

A Glimmer of Hope: The Video Findings

In December of the previous year, Assad’s overthrow led to the release of thousands from prison amidst chaos. Suleiman believed he recognized Shadi in footage from Sidnaya prison, igniting a renewed search.

Ben Solomon:

"I immediately thought, wow, this is going to end with a happy ending... it was a much more complicated and much more powerful and also sad but also hopeful story."
[02:03]

Kate Linebaugh:

"Suleiman found that video of the man who looked like Shadi... the video shows a crowd of freed prisoners thanking God for freeing them."
[08:43]

Ben Solomon:

"And at one point, I asked him if seeing the video made him feel better or worse, and he said, of course, better... but I just am dying to find him."
[08:43]

The Pursuit: Leveraging Community and Technology

Determined not to let hope fade, Ben Solomon and local journalist Arub Hamoud collaborated to trace the man in the video. Their efforts culminated in a breakthrough connection via Facebook, leading to an emotional revelation that the man was not Shadi.

Ben Solomon:

"We started looking for this photo and we just put out word... Does anybody know who this person was?"
[12:47]

Arub Hamoud:

"Finally... a man wrote to her and said, hey, that's actually my cousin... and here's his story."
[13:18]

The Heartbreaking Discovery: Realizing Shadi is Gone

The phone call between Suleiman and the supposed Shadi brought unbearable sorrow. Recognizing the voice mismatch, Suleiman faced the grim reality that his son was no longer alive.

Ben Solomon:

"I think he knew as soon as he started talking to him, this is not my son... he slowly realized that this is not his son and that this is the end of his search."
[14:10]

Kate Linebaugh:

"The man wasn't Shadi... Suleiman stared at the ground... 'Shadi is gone.'"
[16:24]

A Nation of Lost Hopes: Shared Stories of Disappearance

Suleiman’s experience is not isolated. Many Syrians have faced similar heartaches, mistaking the appearances of others for their lost loved ones amidst the chaos and lack of information.

Ben Solomon:

"Many people were posting the same photo... it was really inspiring, and in other ways, it was really, really hard to hear and see."
[16:56]

Conclusion: The Lingering Hope and Ongoing Pain

While Suleiman grapples with the acceptance of his son's absence, a part of him retains hope. His story mirrors the broader Syrian struggle to rebuild and find closure amidst decades of conflict and loss.

Ben Solomon:

"I think even though he kind of has to say goodbye to this hope... maybe he's still out there and maybe there's something he doesn't know."
[17:56]

Kate Linebaugh:

"It's hard to know what happens next as the new country just tries to rebuild itself from... war."
[19:13]

---

Notable Quotes:

• Ben Solomon on Initial Impressions:
  “He was just very kind, very gentle and really just soft spoken.”
  [00:34]

• Suleiman on the Video:
  “If you put him among a million people, I could still pick him out.”
  [01:03]

• Shadi’s Mother, Umm Fadi:
  “He's my son. What's more to say, he's a piece of my heart.”
  [10:09]

• Ben Solomon on the Call's Impact:
  “I think it was really tough to see him slowly realize that this is not his son.”
  [16:24]

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Final Thoughts:

Suleiman Al Yusuf’s relentless quest to find his son Shadi encapsulates the broader narrative of loss and hope amidst Syria’s turbulent history. The Journal episode poignantly captures the emotional journey of a father navigating the labyrinth of war, oppression, and the quest for truth. Through engaging storytelling and heartfelt interviews, listeners gain a profound understanding of the human cost of conflict and the enduring spirit of those left searching for their loved ones.

Transcript

[Kate Linebaugh]

Suleiman Al Yusuf is a father of seven. He lives outside Damascus and works odd jobs. Twelve years ago, his son Shadi went missing and he's been looking for him ever since. Our colleague Ben Solomon talked to Suleiman last Dec. What were your first impressions of him?

[Ben Solomon]

So when we first met him, it was. He was just very kind, very gentle and really just soft spoken. It was clear that he didn't come from a lot of money, that, you know, he was a working class guy and that he just didn't know really where to turn. He didn't know how to approach this search, but he was going to do whatever he could.

[Kate Linebaugh]

Suleiman showed Ben the only clue that he had that his son was alive. A video. The video shows men being released from prison after the fall of Syria's dictator. There in the crowd, Suleiman pointed to one man who he said is his son. He said, when I saw the video, I knew. I said, that's Shadi. He also said, if you put him among a million people, I could still pick him out.

[Ben Solomon]

And when he showed us the video, I mean, it was shocking.

[Kate Linebaugh]

Ben makes documentaries for the Wall Street Journal and decided to follow Suleiman's journey.

[Ben Solomon]

It was like, oh, this is. I mean, I immediately thought, wow, this is going to end with a happy ending. Like, he's going to find his son. We got to follow this guy. When I went to Syria, I knew I wanted to find someone like him. I knew I wanted to find somebody that was actively looking for the family because there was hundreds of thousands of people that were missing. So we decided, started following him and what we found was a much more complicated and much more powerful and also sad but also hopeful story that spoke to the country at large and not just his case.

[Kate Linebaugh]

Welcome to the Journal. Our show about money, business and power. I'm Kate LINEBAUGH. It's Monday, April 28th. Coming up on the show, the search for shoddy.

[Ben Solomon]

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[Kate Linebaugh]

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[Ben Solomon]

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[Kate Linebaugh]

According to Suleyman, Shadi was 25 years old when he disappeared in 2013. Shadi had worked at a tobacco and shisha store. His father described him as dignified and ambitious. His mother, Mfadi, said Shadi was the head of the household and that his brothers would listen to him. What did Suleiman say about the last time he saw his son?

[Ben Solomon]

So Suleiman told us that the last day that he saw his son, the son was trying to go out, trying to work. And Suleiman was like, just don't go to Damascus, don't go to the city, don't cause any problems, don't like, test it. Just stay home. He took the car keys away and hid them so his son wouldn't sneak off.

[Kate Linebaugh]

Eventually, Shadi got hold of the keys and drove into the city. He was arrested at a checkpoint. Shadi disappeared. At a time of tremendous conflict in Syria. There were widespread protests against the oppressive regime of Bashar Al Assad. And the regime was indiscriminately arresting men of military age. With all that chaos, Suleiman had wanted his family to keep a low profile.

[Ben Solomon]

This is a really poor family that was just trying to do whatever they could to make money. And so he and his wife were telling their son all the time, lay low, don't make a fuss, don't get in trouble. Cause they were just arresting any military age man around that area. And then not long after the fighting started, his son went out and then he just never came home.

[Kate Linebaugh]

What did he think happened to him?

[Ben Solomon]

So for a long time, Suleiman told us they just didn't know. It could be any number of things. Son could have been killed, he could have been shot in some of the crossfire because there was a lot of active fighting all around that area back then. You know, they don't know. And. And for the longest time, he just like, searched wherever he could. And Suleiman told me that they were always thinking of him. We were always thinking of him. We always, on any occasion, would think of him. We would cry and wish that he was there with us. He would have gotten married by now. He would have had kids, he would have had grandchildren. So we didn't forget him one bit, not one bit. And there was always hope that we would find him. We would always pray and send him our prayers that one day he might return to us unharmed.

[Kate Linebaugh]

Virginia Salim for years, Suleiman looked for his son. He went to prisons, he talked to locals in Damascus, he looked online.

[Ben Solomon]

This was a systemic machine of disappearing people that were opposed to the government. And so many people were being put in the same position where they just did not know what happened to their family. Members, and to say anything and to be loud about it and to push or to fight with the government would risk your safety as well. So, you know, he was suffering in silence. And like so many Syrians, there was no recourse to try to find what happened, to try to get any kind of justice, to try to get any kind of information. So it was just years and years of kind of waiting and kind of staying quiet.

[Kate Linebaugh]

Then, in December last year, Assad was overthrown and thousands of people were freed from prisons. While there were many celebrations, there was also chaos on the streets of Damascus. Many of those prisoners didn't know how to get home.

[Ben Solomon]

I mean, the reality of the situation in Syria back then was that it was mayhem, like so many different. Nobody knew what was happening. It was just chaos. Nobody was in charge yet. There was no kind of overarching mechanism for anybody to. To figure anything out. There was no government. The government had just left. So it was rumors, and a lot of the rumors that were going around were that some of these people that were coming out of the prisons did not remember who they were, did not remember any of their history, barely knew their names.

[Kate Linebaugh]

And then Suleiman found that video of the man who looked like Shadi. The video shows a crowd of freed prisoners thanking God for freeing them. They're outside Sidnaya, an infamous prison known as the Human Slaughterhouse. The men are skinny and bald, and Suleiman thought that one of those men was Shadi.

[Ben Solomon]

And at one point, I asked him if seeing the video made him feel better or worse, and he said, of course, better. I was sure that he still exists. There was no room for doubt that my son is alive and that he's there and that he was released from prison, but I just want. I just am dying to find him.

[Kate Linebaugh]

Thousands of men had disappeared during the Assad regime. Ben wondered, what are the chances that in this random video, Suleiman actually saw his son?

[Ben Solomon]

So it wasn't until the first time that I saw. I went to his house, and he went through a photo album, and he showed me the pictures of Shadi. And I took pictures and I went back to my hotel and I looked at them side by side. Videos of the man from the night that Sidney opened the photos of Shadi as before he was arrested. And I just, you know, I wasn't sure. I couldn't be sure. And I showed it to some colleagues, and they weren't either. And it was just, you know, when you hear from a father that that is my son, 100%, you know, what can you say to that? It's either like, who else would know? And a mother too. Umm, Fadi, his wife was also just convinced that's him, that's 100% him, and we have to find him.

[Kate Linebaugh]

Shadi's mother, Umm Fadi, said, he's my son. What's more to say, he's a piece of my heart. She said their lives were shattered by his absence.

[Ben Solomon]

It was such a crazy time that it felt not unlikely that his son might not just have been able to find home. They had moved from the original place where they had lived before. So there was a high likelihood that it was him. But, you know, days turned into weeks turned into months. And then from afar, as I was just texting him on WhatsApp and just, you know, he would tell me, no information, no information, nothing new.

[Kate Linebaugh]

At a certain point, did you think it was a dead end?

[Ben Solomon]

I think at a certain point we kind of started to feel that maybe it's not him. It seemed more and more unlikely that this guy just had so much memory loss that he couldn't hit home. And that was when we kind of started digging deeper. That was when we started joining these Facebook groups, getting into these accounts of lost people and starting to look for Shadi ourselves.

[Kate Linebaugh]

Ben joined Suleiman in his search for Shadi. And what he found wasn't what he expected. That's next.

[Ben Solomon]

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[Kate Linebaugh]

To help Suleiman in his search for Shadi, Ben started looking online, trying to find the man in the video.

[Ben Solomon]

We started looking for this photo and we just put out word. Anybody could tell us any information. Does anybody know who this person was?

[Kate Linebaugh]

Ben got some help from a local journalist in Syria named Arub Hamoud. Arub posted about Shadi on Facebook groups and made lots of calls. She chased down leads and tried everywhere she could to find the man in the video. And then in February, she got a hit.

[Ben Solomon]

Finally, you know, after months and months of writing around randomly, just got A Facebook message. And a man wrote to her and said, hey, that's actually my cousin, and here's his name and here he is, and here's his story. And then send a picture of the same man wearing the same thing.

[Kate Linebaugh]

So Arub called him. The man from the video was in another part of Syria. So Arub set up a call with Suleiman. Suleiman took the call from his house. He sat on his couch and fidgeted with his keys. Umfadi sat across from him.

[Ben Solomon]

I think he knew as soon as he started talking to him, this is not my son. And I think that was. That was really tough to see.

[Kate Linebaugh]

The man wasn't shoddy. Suleiman still had questions. How long had he been in prison? The man said, over seven years. And then Suleiman said, I saw you in the video. I thought you were my son. The man on the call responded, God willing, God willing, you will find him soon. Suleiman asked him some more questions about the sweater he was wearing in the video, the cigarette he was smoking. He also asked him where he's from. And Suleiman again told the man that he really, really thought he was his. So the man responded the same way he did earlier. God willing, you'll be reunited with him soon. The call ended. Suleiman put down the phone and he said, it's not Shadi. It's not his voice. Suleiman stared at the ground. He rubbed his face. He said, this means Shadi is dead. Suleiman stared beyond Ben's camera. He repeated out loud that Shadi was gone and whispered a prayer. He rubbed his face again. Umfadi left the room.

[Ben Solomon]

It was just a two minute call, but in those, in those few minutes, there was just these long pauses where he just kind of waited to kind of hear this man's voice and just think about what to say next. I mean, it was really hard to kind of see him slowly realize that this is not his son and that this is, this is the end of his search.

[Kate Linebaugh]

Ben learned that Suleiman wasn't the only person who thought the man in the video was their loved one.

[Ben Solomon]

So many people were posting the same photo and their son next to it and their brother and their cousin. They thought it was their relative. It was hard to see these faces over and over of so many people seeing their sons. You know, this people were desperate like this. This is a country of desperate people with no information and for years just had given up hope. Like these are just hundreds if not thousands of Suleimans. Who just believed that this could be their family member. And it was just, you know, he had bushy eyebrows and he was gaunt and he. And he looked like a face that so many people could just see their love in and see their hope in. So in some ways, it was really inspiring, and in other ways, it was really, really hard to hear and see.

[Kate Linebaugh]

What does Suleiman now think happened to Shadi?

[Ben Solomon]

Well, Suleiman, he's kind of back to just the same place he started years and years ago. Unfortunately, he doesn't know. There's no information. I still think part of him holds on to hope a little bit. I think even though he kind of has to say goodbye to this hope, to this moment, there's still a part of him that wants to think that maybe he's still out there and maybe there's something he doesn't know. This is not just Suleiman's story. It's the story of so many people in Syria. I mean, you hope so much that there's, like, there's some happy endings for people like Suleiman, but, you know, it's that there's some hope that, that. That so much of this suffering will have meant something. But, you know, as the. As the new country just tries to rebuild itself from, you know, decades of pain and silence and war, it's hard to know what happens next.

[Kate Linebaugh]

That's all for today. Monday, April 28th. The Journal is a co production of Spotify in the Wall Street Journal. Additional reporting in this episode by Belle Cushing and Arub Hamoud. Special thanks to Rasha Ali for help in this episode. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow.