Israel and the Philippines Celebrate Jubilee of Diplomatic Ties
“Golden Years of Friendship and Care – Building on Common Values” This is the overall theme of this year’s events celebrating the special relationship between Israel and the Philippines. The festive events and activities, which started with the participation of the Philippines in an international parade in Holon, Israel on Purim last February, will culminate in the unveiling of a monument called “Open Doors” on November 9, 2007 at the Holocaust Memorial in Rishon Lezion.
The monument, which has been reserved a prominent site inside the Holocaust Memorial by the Mayor of Rishon LeZion, is aimed at memorializing the Philippines’ warm gesture in welcoming Jews to the country as they fled Nazi Germany in 1935, and the long relationship between Filipinos and the Jewish people, which is believed to have started as early as the arrival of Magellan in the island of Mactan.
Well-known Filipino artist Junyee was chosen by a Board Judges in a nationwide competition organized by the Philippine government through the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for a design that will best exemplify the humanitarian acts of the Filipinos for the Jews escaping the Holocaust. Junyee bested eight other artists, including a national artist and two other top Filipino sculptors with his “Open Doors” monument. Adjudged as the most fitting symbol of the Filipino’s historical friendship and support of the Jews as well as for the 50 years of Philippine-Israel diplomatic relations, the monument will be constructed in Manila. It will be made up of three triangular open doors in increasing height, symbolizing the courage and humanitarian deeds of the Filipino people in welcoming the Jews escaping the Holocaust. According to the artist, the triangular pattern of the open doors represent the triangles of the Philippine flag and the star of David that were joined to mark the close and friendly relations between the Philippines and Israel as the two nations celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties in August 1957. The light represents the sun that brought the hope and the warm hospitality of the Filipino people as they welcomed the Jews in 1930..
In the Philippines plans are underway among several Christian groups to honor Israel and the Jewish people. More than 200 pilgrims have registered with Ephesus Travel to attend the unveiling ceremonies in Rishon LeZion. In what has been dubbed "Golden Journey to the Holy Land," a tour package has been prepared by Ephesus in cooperation with Israel's Ministry of Tourism and El Al at a very low cost. Other activities lined up include a concert in Tel Aviv of Filipino performers and publication of a coffee table book.
The Philippines is home to a thriving Jewish community made up of about 500 members, who are mostly into business. They dominate the telecommunications industry with almost every Israeli telecom company having a very strong presence in the country - ECI (Electronics Corporation of Israel), COMVERSE, OPCOM, CORRIGENT , CELTRO, BATM Telco Systems, Elad Communications, FiberCity, FiberTel, FiberCom, etc. Israeli farming technology, which was introduced by NETAFIM some years before, has been adopted in several corporate farms in the country, providing Filipino consumers with vegetables like the ones found in Israel: the large red, green, yellow and purple bell peppers, cucumbers, herbs, cantaloupes and honey dews, among others.
Jewish presence in the Philippines, however, dates back centuries before. Marranos or “New Christians” who converted to Christianity to avoid persecution, or Crypto-Jews, as they were called, fleeing the Spanish Inquisition during the 16th to 18th centuries, found a safe haven in the Philippines. These were followed in the 19th century by Alsatian Jews fleeing the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War, then by Syrian Jews fleeing persecution in Damascus. Thus today, it is not surprising to find Jewish people in various places in the Philippines, even in the most unlikely places like Tabaco and Ligao, Albay, or in the smaller towns in the province of Samar. Among the earliest known Jewish-owned businesses were the diamond store, La Estrella del Norte and Oceanic Commercial in Escolta. Before these, there was Botica Zobel, set up by one of the earliest known Jewish arrivals in the country – Jacobo Zobel Hinsch, a German Jew from Hamburg and his wealthy Creole wife.
After the battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898 and the Philippines became an American colony, some Jewish American soldiers were among those sent as “Thomasites” who helped provide free education to Filipinos. Many eventually settled in the Philippines and opened up businesses. An influx of American Jews followed, and at the same time, Russian Jews fleeing the Czar, the Bolshevik Revolution and the Russian Civil War, found their way to the Philippines.
At the end of World War I, a number of German and Austrian Jews arrived in the Philippines. At this time, an ornate, conservative synagogue was built along Taft Avenue, and a cemetery was consecrated one year after. Named Temple Emil, after its principal benefactor, Emil Bacharach, the place is now the site of the AVON Bldg.
In the following years before World War II, members of the Jewish community numbered about 1200 to 2000. Most were responsible for putting up the Philippines’ first modern department stores, its first automobile dealership, the embroidery, clothing and tobacco industries, the country’s first radio station and newspaper, even the forerunner of what is now Philippine Airlines. Notable also among the members of the Jewish community was Dr. Herbert Zipper, who became conductor of the Manila Symphony Orchestra.
The outbreak of the second World War brought another influx of Jewish immigrants. President Manuel Quezon welcomed 10,000 Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust and granted them 10 hectares of land in Marikina.
In the United Nations votation to partition Palestine and create the nation of Israel on November 29, 1947, the Philippines was the only Asian country to vote in favor. A diplomatic presence was soon created with the appointment of an honorary consul, and on May 13, 1957, full diplomatic relations was established between the two countries. The late Prime Minister Golda Meir, who was then Foreign Minister, came to the Philippines for a state visit and was granted an honorary degree at the Ateneo de Manila.
There are more than 40,000 Filipino workers in Israel, most of whom are caregivers to the Jewish elderly. They are scattered all over Israel, from the northernmost village of Metullah to the southernmost port city of Eilat, and you see them everywhere pushing wheelchairs, accompanying the Jewish elderly. Each Saturday after Shabbat until Sunday, they practically fill the Takana Merkazit, or the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv and Neeveshanan, where the Oriental stores are located. Most of these metaplot (Hebrew for caregivers; metapelet, singular) speak Hebrew fluently; some even read and write Hebrew, and still some others speak the language of their safta or saba (grandmother or grandfather in Hebrew) who may not be able to speak Hebrew but the language of the country where they came from. The highest paid caregivers in the Middle East, these caregivers all have personal stories to tell. Some are blessed with good employers who treat them like family. There are some, however, who only have horror stories, of one mean employer after the other, and of agencies who have taken advantage of them..
Two magazines published in Tel Aviv cater to the Filipino community in Israel: Manila Tel Aviv and Focal Magazine. A potpourri of news from the Philippines, movie gossip, features of various people and information on workers' rights keep them informed and entertained. An organization called the Mesila, which is made up of both foreign workers from different countries and human rights activists, provides them with counseling and help with legal problems.
There are 13 Filipino evangelical and full-gospel churches in Israel, organized into one umbrella organization called In His Care Ministry Leadership Network, with a combined congregation of approximately 5,000. These churches are located mostly in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Netanya, Haifa and Eilat.
Indeed we have a very special relationship with Israel and the Jewish people. It is a God-ordained connection that many Filipinos believe we have been “Chosen for His Chosen People” to love and bless them.
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