For more than 40 years, Raphael Luzon dreamed of returning to his birthplace in Libya. But the obstacles in his way were huge and it took years of patient lobbying before that dream was finally realised. Together with his sister and 86-year-old mother, Mr Luzon returned to the village of Benghazi recently for a reunion with loved ones that was, he told us, a mixture of tears and laughter.
Homesickness
A longing - sometimes melancholic, sometimes painful - for the security of something familiar.
It can happen to anyone. Migrants who leave their home countries. Children who are away from home for the first time. Elderly people for whom changes sometimes go too quickly. This summer Radio Netherlands Worldwide has produced a series of stories, tips and recipes on the theme of homesickness. A universal longing for something that is not there.
Libya's Jewish population, originally numbering tens of thousands, shrank in the face of growing anti-Semitism after the founding of Israel in 1948. Most of the estimated 7,000 remaining Jews were evacuated after violent riots in 1967. Mr Luzon's uncle and aunt and their six children were shot by an army officer in the rioting, but despite the violence Mr Luzon and the community he represents are still, he says, Libyans who cherish the land of their birth.
Libya's Jews in exile were banned from visiting their country and it took years of work and lobbying on Mr Luzon's part before he was given permission to make last month's visit. And when permission did come, it came with a speed that left him stunned.
Mr Luzon's mother was determined to see her homeland again "before leaving this world", he says, and joined him on the journey back to the village of Benghazi, some 1,000 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli.
Mr Luzon also met with several government officials during his visit and hopes now to help realise the same dream for other Libyan Jews. He's optimistic that within a month he'll be able to accompany small groups of Jewish exiles on a visit back to their Libyan homeland. And his dreams don't stop there. He's an idealist who believes in the possibility of reconciliation between Muslims and Jews. For 1,400 years, he says, the communities were at peace and with dialogue and goodwill that could be possible again.
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