The Filipinos today should realize that Israel is a special friend of our country, not only because it is the birthplace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, but because history has linked our two peoples into a special bond of friendship and cooperation. Since 1969 until today, Filipinos can enter Israel without the need of a visa. And Israelis can come anytime to our land also without a visa.
It should be stressed, for the information of younger Filipinos, that the Philippines was the only Asian country that supported the creation of the State of Israel. Our country supported UN Resolution 181, authorizing the partition of Palestine and the creation of an independent State of Israel in 1947. The 33 pro-Israel countries are Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Byelorussian SSR, Canada, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, Liberia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, South Africa, Ukrainian SSR, United States of America, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Germany, of course, opposed.
You can readily notice that the following countries were not among those who supported the creation of Israel as an independent state: China, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Italy, Spain, Portugal, India, and most especially the Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan and many others. On November 28, 2007, or exactly 16 years ago today, the Knesset or the Israeli Parliament honored the 33 countries that supported the UN Resolution 181 in the celebration of Israel's 60th founding anniversary. The Philippines even sponsored the UN Resolution to mark every January 27 as a day to honor victims of the Holocaust.
Because of this special friendship, every year, more than one million Filipinos visit Israel (I did it more than once) going on religious pilgrimage to the Holy Land, seeing for ourselves such hallowed sites like the City of Jerusalem, Galilee, Cana, and even Palestinian places including Bethlehem and Jericho. These annual pilgrimages yield for Israel more than $1 billion. When Filipinos go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, their tour also includes Jordan, where Mount Nebo is located. This is the mountain where God showed to Moses the promised land. Moses was able to see it but he did not live long enough to go to it. It was his successor, Joshua, who led the Israelis to that promised land in Canaan.
As early as 1958, the Philippines and Israel already signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. In 1964, the two countries signed an agreement on technical cooperation in the field of agriculture. Filipinos have so much to learn from Israelis who were able to transform their arid desert lands into a big oasis of vegetables, fruits, flowers, and luxuriant trees. In 1969, we also signed a treaty with Israel on the peaceful use of atomic energy. In 1991, the two countries entered into an agreement on the fields of educational, cultural, and scientific research, which was followed in 1992 on scientific and technological cooperation. In 1997, our two governments signed an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation for Filipinos working in Israel and for Israelis working in the Philippines.
This special friendship began long before both the Philippines and Israel became independent. In 1934, under the leadership of President Manuel L. Quezon and US High Commissioner Paul V. McNutt, Jewish refugees escaping Nazi persecution were able to find sanctuary in the Philippines before Filipinos and Jews alike experienced the brunt of the Second World War. The whole world closed its doors to the Jews. It was only the Philippines and the US that welcomed the persecuted Jewish people. Love begets love and friendship begets friendship. Even as we have Muslim brothers, we, Christians consider Jews as our brothers.
After all, the Jews, the Muslims, and the Christians are all descendants of only one man: Abraham or Ibrahim, the father of three religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity. These three religions started in Israel. The Muslim Arabs (remember, there are Christian Arabs) and the Jews are all descendants of one father. They should be loving each other instead of being at war.