Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
The raging Israel-Hamas conflict has affected the Filipino community in Israel, raising national consciousness anew on the stark realities of global politics. As reported by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) last Oct. 9, at least 22 Filipinos were rescued, including two who were injured, while one was reported to have been taken hostage, and seven others remained unaccounted for, amid retaliatory attacks launched by Israel against Hamas militants.
The DFA also reported that 25 from the 137 Filipinos in Gaza Strip, where Hamas is the de facto government, already requested for repatriation. According to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), there are 24,807 Filipinos working mostly as caregivers, production and transport services employees, and household helpers. In coordination with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), the DFA is firming up contingency measures, including repatriation of citizens, if warranted under existing policy guidelines.
Last weekend, Hamas militants conducted surprise attacks that led to a declaration of war by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to initial wire reports, “at least 700 Israelis were killed and about 2,000 people were being treated in hospitals.” An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson claimed that “more than 400 Palestinian militants had been killed in southern Israel and the Gaza Strip, and dozens more had been captured.”
High-profile visits of ultra-Orthodox Jews and Israeli activists during last week’s Jewish harvest festival, reportedly raised tensions anew. Recall that in 2021, there was a bloody 11-day war between Hamas and Israel, spawned by a long-running dispute over the Al-Aqsa Mosque that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Recall, too, that since the onset of the blockade on Gaza, imposed by both Israel and Egypt 17 years ago, the area has been a flashpoint and battleground, as the Palestinian people have been experiencing economic hardship.
Filipinos’ involvement in the highly volatile geopolitics of the Middle East dates to the aftermath of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. As Arab member-countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) gained control of global oil supplies, their prosperity triggered a massive build-up of infrastructure that attracted workers from the Philippines and other Asian countries. Thus began the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) diaspora.
According to government figures, around half of 1.8 million OFWs deployed as of 2021 are based in the Arab countries that are not now directly involved in the latest conflagration. Geopolitical analysts aver that while the longer-term implications are unclear, “the short-term threat to oil prices and the global economy should be moderate.”
The ongoing conflict began last Oct. 7, a day after the observance of the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War between Egypt and Israel in 1973. In September 1978, US President Jimmy Carter brokered the Camp David Peace Accords between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. But the Israel-Palestine peace process has proved to be more arduous, as depicted by the ongoing war.
We join the nation in praying for the safety of our fellow Filipinos and share all peace-loving peoples’ earnest wish for a cessation of hostilities.
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
