Haifa Inaugurates New Location of Quezon Marker

From left: Consul General Randy Arquiza, Mr. Carmel Hacohen (former Philippine Honorary Consul General to Haifa), and Ms. Bracha Sela, Secretary General of Haifa municipality, at the relocated memorial marker in Manila Square, along Manila Street. (Tel Aviv PE photo)

HAIFA 27 October 2020 – The port city of Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city, formally inaugurated the new location of a memorial marker installed to commemorate President Manuel L. Quezon’s “Open Door” policy, under which the Philippines welcomed 1,300 Jewish refugees who had left Europe to escape the Holocaust. Ms. Bracha Sela, Secretary-General of the Haifa Municipality, led the inauguration ceremony, which took place at the marker’s new location on 20 October 2020.

Consul General Randy Arquiza, who attended on behalf of Philippine Ambassador to Israel Nathaniel “Neal” G. Imperial, thanked Ms. Sela for the Haifa municipality’s initiative to relocate the marker to a larger and more prominent location along Manila Street. “Haifa has a special place in Philippine-Israel relations, being the sister city of our capital city, Manila, and the home to over 3,000 Filipinos in Israel,” Consul General Randy said. “On behalf of the Ambassador, I convey our appreciation for this concrete gesture of Haifa’s regard for the longstanding friendship between the Philippines and Israel.”

The marker is now located in its own area, named Manila Square, in a public park along Manila Street in Haifa. END

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