A 57-year-old woman dubbed “the wandering Israeli” by Peruvian media leaves Lima’s international airport after living in the arrivals area for 19 days and making headlines across the country.
Olga Babaev’s story was reported by Peruvian newspapers and TV channels, which likened it to Steven Spielberg’s film “The Terminal.”
During her stay at the airport, which started when she landed May 29, the Israeli Embassy in Lima offered her assistance, but Babaev refused it, according to consul Limor Sherman. A Peruvian Jewish institution offered her shelter, which she also refused.
Olga Babaev told a Peruvian newspaper that she did not want to return to Israel and “I want to go to a warm place.” (Screenshot from Facebook)
“I don’t want to go back to Israel. I don’t have anyone there. Also, I have problems with my family name, which is not Jewish,” Babaev told the El Comercio newspaper last week. “I want to go to a warm place.”
Peru is Babaev’s second stop in South America. After begging for food for two months on the streets of Rio, she was rescued by Jewish volunteers in May thanks to a rapid response initiated on Facebook. Soon after being taken to an upscale Jewish elder home, she decided to leave. She was then given a one-way ticket to Lima by a local Jewish-owned travel agency.
–– JTA
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