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For the year’s heaviest week of travel, Israel Story brings tales of love and interrogation at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport

December 30, 2015


The first place travelers to Israel typically encounter is Ben Gurion Airport. What they’ll remember of that experience depends in part on their relationship to the country. Are they coming home? Arriving to a place they’ve always dreamed of visiting? Passing through, with fear or wariness, en route to someplace else?

In this week’s episode of Israel Story, we hear from people who have had unforgettable encounters in or on their way to TLV. First, we meet Lily Sayegh, an Iraqi-born Israeli in her 80s who recently had a very unusual seat mate during her flight from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv. Next, we hear from a couple whose romantic fate was sealed by an Israeli security officer. And finally, we meet Victor Rodack who, in 1967, at age 14, was perhaps El Al’s very first stowaway.

Listen to the full episode here, or download it from iTunes. You can hear all our English-language episodes here.

Israel Story, the English-language version of the popular Israeli radio program Sipur Israeli, is distributed by PRX and produced in partnership with Tablet.

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