Followed almost immediately by alarm. Not just the kind that gently wakes you in the morning. No, this was more of a full-throttled red-lights-flashing put-out-the-fire type alarm. The kind that, rather than gently waking you, jolts you into reality from a world full of dreams.
Let me explain.
It was triggered by a recent post in an otherwise innocuous Facebook group called Siargao Business Classified. “Sorry to say!” the anonymous poster began. “But most Israeli travelers here are very loud and disrespectful! Acting like they own the island. Most of us got trauma [from] your behavior…”
That was bad enough, but what pushed my burgeoning panic into the realm of screaming sirens was the more than 200 replies. “Tired of seeing these people come here, act entitled, disrespect the locals, and trash the place like it’s their personal playground,” one shouted. “They act like the rules don’t apply to them, pushing their way around and ruining the vibe of the island. If you can’t respect the place and the people who actually live here, just don’t come.”
Jumping right on board, another declared that the allegedly misbehaving Israelis “deserve to be banned.”
Holy Moly, I thought, what the heck’s going on? You may wonder why I seem to have a dog in this fight, so let me tell you. First, being Jewish, I identify with Israel and have long supported it. And second, just last month I penned a Sunday Times Magazine cover story extolling the virtues of Siargao’s sizeable Israeli presence. “We come for fun, quiet, and rest, especially after the war,” explained one visitor who, like most of his compadres, had recently fought for the Israeli Defense Forces. “We are all soldiers, so after our service we come for vacation.”
Which, frankly, may explain some of their allegedly rowdy behavior. And because Israelis, by some estimates, comprise a full 30% of the island’s tourist population, well, their antics do not go unnoticed.
What alarms me, though, is the context of all this handwringing. These young people’s homeland, after all, is engaged in a bloody struggle for survival against forces that have long sought its destruction. And the resulting surge of global antisemitism has become the bane of Jewish people everywhere.
Some of the criticism by local islanders, in fact, bordered on ethnic hatred, implying sympathy for Palestinian and Nazi genocide as well as repeating ancient antisemitic tropes. Which, indeed, corresponds to a reported rise in Filipino antisemitism over the past decade.
Last year, according to the New York-based Anti-Defamation League, a full 42% of Filipinos displayed antisemitic attitudes, a dramatic increase from 2014 when only 3% of the population expressed such feelings. “These figures are alarming,” Israeli Ambassador Ilan Fluss declared at a recent commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Manila, “and we cannot simply watch as this hateful ideology spreads.”
Regarding the situation in Siargao, however, Fluss—while asserting his awareness of it—emphasized the historically strong ties and good relations between Israelis and Filipinos and his desire to see them continue. “It’s all about dialogue and understanding,” the ambassador said.
And, indeed, that sentiment was also echoed by several of those commenting on the recent post. “I have many Israeli friends who are some of the kindest and most thoughtful people I know,” one wrote. “They’re aware of the negative behaviors some fellow Israelis might exhibit, and they want to address it.”
Once, upon encountering a rude Israeli visitor herself, she said, “I explained how his behavior could affect others. He immediately apologized and seemed genuinely remorseful. I think sometimes people act out because they feel judged or defensive, especially when they sense others may have negative preconceptions about them. It’s something many of us can relate to, no matter where we’re from.”
Her wise conclusion: “A little empathy can go a long way in shifting behavior.”
To which I add a heartfelt amen.
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David Haldane is an award-winning American journalist and author with homes in Southern California and Northern Mindanao. His latest book, Dark Skies: Tales of Turbulence in Paradise—due out in May—is available for preorder on Amazon. This column appears weekly in The Manila Times.
