Siargao, a small island in the Philippines’ Mindanao region, might seem far from the Gaza genocide. But as the island becomes a popular spot for Israelis completing their military service, local Filipinos are starting to reject Israeli tourism.
Siargao seems like the most unlikely place where the ongoing genocide in Gaza might enter public discourse. A small island in the Philippines’ Mindanao region, it is best known as a top international surfing destination. It has a reputation for being laid-back, slow-paced, and largely tolerant of the influx of outsiders despite the rapid changes they have brought to island life. In the past several months, things have changed.
In mid-2024, as the genocide in Gaza intensified, a number of local Filipinos in Siargao began to show their support for a free Palestine in small ways. Some covered over Israeli stickers posted in public spaces with their own Free Palestine messages. Others talked about holding a protest event—a plan that fizzled out. A few began to be vocal on social media, linking their views understanding of Israel’s treatment of Palestine to a growing list of Israeli tourist abuses in Siargao.
They were met with confusion at best, and hostility at worst. Siargao’s tourist establishments include several owned and operated by Israeli nationals, and Israelis made up a growing segment of the island’s tourists. Any denunciation of Israel’s violence in Gaza was bound to draw attention from Israeli business owners and tourists, as well as local government officials and business owners concerned with how these criticisms might affect Siargao’s image.
Locals in Siargao know tourism to be a volatile mistress. Today the island is finally recovering from the one-two punch of the COVID-19 pandemic and Super Typhoon Odette in 2021. In the aftermath of both disasters, Siargao has once again returned to its reliance on tourism as a primary economic driver. (more...)
Filipinos reject Israeli tourism amid the Gaza genocide
No comments:
Post a Comment