22 Friday, March 7, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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The Manila synagogue
versql Jewish Encyclopedia and
Encyclopedia Judaica.
While it is unusually brief, a
summary of the Philippine
Jewish history is provided in the
one-volume Standard Jewish
Encyclopedia, as follows:
PHILIPPINES: A group of
islands in the Pacific, for-
merly under Spanish rule. In
the 16th-17th Centuries, a
number of Marranos settled
there, and some were tried by
the Inquisition. Immigrants
from Alsace-Lorraine arrived
between 1870 and 1880. With
the acquisition of the islands
by the United States in 1898,
Jews migrated from the
American mainland and
Europe. After World War I, a
considerable number of Rus-
sian Jews came via Siberia.
A congregation was formed
in Manila in 1919, and the is-
land's first synagogue was
built there in 1924. Refugees
from Central Europe reached
the Philippines from 1933 on;
others came from Japanese-
occupied Shanghai after 1937.
The Japanese occupation
completely disrupted Jewish
life. In 1943, the authorities
instituted an anti-Semitic
campaign, deporting or
interning all Jews irrespec-
tive of nationality. The com-
munity was reconstituted in
1945, numbering some 500
Jews (300 in Manila) in 1973.
When there is a synagogue,
there is Jewish life. The accom-
panying photo from the Univer-
sal Jewish Encyclopedia attests
to it.
Fortunately there are no
negativisms about the status of
Philippine Jewry. Israel and
world Jewry have a deep inter-
est in them and hope for their
well-being.
Public Angered
As Congressman
Slights the `Jew'
California
Congressman
Robert Dornan aroused Jewish
anger. He was infuriated by the
appearance of Vladimir Posner
on an ABC program from Russia
in which President Ronald Re-
agan was held in contempt. In
his expression of horror, Rep.
Dornan referred to Posner as a
"disloyal, betraying little Jew."
Such episodes have not been
heard in the U.S. Congress' since
the days when some Con-
gressmen were outspokenly
anti-Semitic. Nevertheless, the
incident has several aspects that
reiterate Jewish experience in
public life. .
Posner doesn't deny being
Jewish. Neither do his parents.
In his report on the incident
from Washington, in the New
York Times (Feb. 28), Bernard
Weinraub revealed that "Mr.
Posner's family were Russian
Jews who converted to the Rus-
sian Orthodox Church."
What an anomaly! Weinraub's
NYTimes story referred to
Posner as follows:
"Mr. Posner, who is 51 years
old, has emerged as one of the
most visible Soviet spokesmen
on American television. He
speaks idiomatic' American
English, the result of years in
the United States when his
father worked as an executive
for M G M.
"In 1949, after his Russian-
born father, Vladimir, had been
dismissed by the Hollywood
studio and blacklisted because of
his pro-Soviet views, the family
moved to the Soviet-occupied
zone in Berlin and in 1952 set-
tled in Moscow.
"Vladimir Posner became a
Soliiet citizen that year, an
editor and writer in 1961, and
began his broddcasting career in
1970 as a commentator for the
North American service of Radio
Moscow, a job he still holds."
The occurrence invites ter-
minological study as well as
social-prejudicial analyses. The
Posners stem from Jewish an-
cestry and they are Russian Or-
thodox Church people. How does
this click with the Russian
atheism? Are the Posners excep-
tions to the rule, that they can
be "betraying little Jews" in the
eyes of a Congressman and yet
be granted religiosity in the
Russian anti-religious
framework, and one of them be-
, coming a spokesman for the
Kremlin? How anomalous and
incongruous!
Weinraub's report deals with
the ABC admission that it had
erred in granting too much time
on its program to Posner. It in-
volves the President's speech on
national seucrity, and Posner's
complimentary references to
t u in on
the President causing infuria-
-
-
Perhaps the anger over Dor-
nan's own anger is being ex-
pressed by Jewish spokesmen
too hastily. There is the old He-
brew adage that "anger begets
anger," therefore, the Dornan
comment may not be at all
anti-Semitic. He may have felt
that he was echoing what his
Jewish fellow citizens were tast-
ing in life. Let there be a second
thought on the subject. Even in
the angle involving ABC, there
is also the confusing aspect that
often instigates media criti-
cisms. If Posner had not been
permitted to drag a two-minute
assignment into eight minutes,
'the incident might have been
avoided.
Thus, the interesting account
involving escapees from
Judaism, Communist propagan-
dists, the media, an angered
the
h middle.— and the Jews in