Three yrs ago, I heard about a guy with my name locked up at Gitmo. Now I’m making a podcast series about him. Ep 2 of #TheOtherLatif drops tonight, and it includes one of the most jarring moments of my life. A thread.
When I started reporting on this guy, there was virtually nothing about him online. I needed to know more. But how do you get to know a guy you can’t talk to, esp one locked in arguably the most secure prison on earth?
I figured the best place to start was where he started. With his family in his hometown of Casablanca, Morocco. So I got his lawyer to arrange a meeting, and my producer @radiosuzie and I booked a flight.
@radiosuzie Before I left, I looked up the family and found … nothing. As far as I could tell, they never talked to any press. Then I started to worry. I was coming from the very country holding their relative without trial for 15+ yrs. If I was them, I would be VERY suspicious of me.
@radiosuzie After I landed, I met our interpreter Tarik (@ElbarakahTarik) and told him why I was there: to learn about this guy w my name. Tarik burst out laughing. Said it wasn’t believable that someone would fly all that way for such a flimsy reason. “But that’s the reason!” I insisted.
@radiosuzie @ElbarakahTarik We drove through a pretty suburb of Casablanca and got to their home. A modest middle class home. Someone led us to a sitting room but then left us there alone. We all sat in awkward silence until …
@radiosuzie @ElbarakahTarik One at a time, family members start streaming into the room and greeting me. First a brother, then a sister, another brother, then nephews, grand-nephews, in-laws. All ages, over a dozen in all.
@radiosuzie @ElbarakahTarik They asked me to turn off the recorder while they presented us a giant meal, a seafood spectacular. (Vegetarian @radiosuzie hadn’t eaten meat for 30 yrs, but ate it anyway to be polite.) And that’s when it happened … one of the most intense moments of my life.
@radiosuzie @ElbarakahTarik I went to wash my hands and in the hall, I bumped into a short hijab-wearing woman whom I later learnt was the other Latif’s sister Khadija. When she saw me, she audibly gasped and started talking Arabic really fast. Tarik translated.
@radiosuzie @ElbarakahTarik She said she knew I was coming. And she knew I had her brother’s name. But what she didn’t know was that I was his height. That I had his build. That I looked like him. And that I was about the age that he was when she last saw him.
@radiosuzie @ElbarakahTarik She said she felt like she had time traveled and she was back with her brother. Then she grabbed my arm, switched into English and said, “Call me sister. Call me sister.” I got goosebumps.
@radiosuzie @ElbarakahTarik I had been worried this whole time that the family wouldn’t trust me, but it turned out to be the opposite. They trusted me almost too much. Saw me as the brother they hadn’t seen in 20 years.
@radiosuzie @ElbarakahTarik I talked to them for two full days and the story they told me about his youth totally contradicted what I read in the government docs.
@radiosuzie @ElbarakahTarik To hear what they told me, make sure you're subscribed to @Radiolab wherever you get your podcasts. And check your feed on Tuesday for Episode 2 of #TheOtherLatif, "Morocco." smarturl.it/radiolab?IQid=…
@radiosuzie @ElbarakahTarik @Radiolab Just posted it! wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radio…
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