Rushdi Jamal

Rushdi was born in Egypt in 1995, to a modest family, and grew up with three brothers and a sister. He earned his middle school certificate, and decided to come to Lebanon to earn a living, and change his life for the better.

He left his home country and arrived to Lebanon in 2015. to joined his brother who lived in Beirut since 2009. He worked at an interior design company for the last five years, and stayed with his brother Fayez, and a friend named Ibrahim.

Rushdi rarely left Beirut, except for a few times, to visit his family and check on his mom in Egypt.

His brother took care of him and pampered him, he was more like a father. Rushdi was a trustworthy, responsible young man, despite being short-tempered. However, he would easily calm down with a cigarette.

He was honest, he hated lies, flattery, gossip, and bad judgement. He never hurt anyone, and will be remembered for all his qualities.

On that fateful Tuesday, the three flatmates, Fayez, Rushdi, and Ibrahim agreed to meet at home for dinner that night. Rushdi and Ibrahim were supposed to return at 7:00 PM, but as fate had it, they were back at 2:00 PM.

After the explosion, Fayez rushed to the house in Mar mikhael. It was completely destroyed and there was no sign of Rushdi nor Ibrahim.

Ten minutes before the explosion, Rushdi went down to a local shop facing the Port of Beirut to buy a pack of cigarettes. He was considered missing until the next day, when Fayez identified his brother's body. Rushdi died from the force of the explosion that tore his arteries.

"Rushdi is such handsome young man", that is how Fayez described his brother when he took a final look at him in his coffin. He always considered him his son… the son who left his home country to change his life, and indeed it changed forever…