A ceremony to open the Jewish Refugees and Shanghai Exhibition was held in Beersheva on 25 June, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Sino-Israeli diplomatic relations.
The event was jointly organized by the Embassy of China in Israel, the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, and the Municipality of Beersheva. Counselor Shi Yong, of the Chinese Embassy, Ruvik Danilovich, Mayor of Beersheva among others attended and delivered speeches. More than 50 guests were invited to the opening ceremony.
Mayor Danilovich expressed his gratitude for the great support given by the Embassy of China and the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum to launch the exhibition. He said the exhibition exposes the selfless love and humanity of the Chinese people, and represents the touching chapter of the history of friendship between Chinese and Jewish people.
The City of Beersheva is expecting to establish twin cities with Chinese local counterparts, and Jewish Times Asia –and promote the development of the bilateral relations and friendly exchange of the two peoples Counselor Shi Yong expressed warm congratulations on the exhibition. He pointed out that in the past 20 years, the two countries have made fruitful pragmatic cooperation in economy and trade, science and technology, culture, education and other fields.
The friendship between Chinese and Jewish people could be traced back to thousands years ago, especially during WWII; Chinese people lent a helping hand to the survivors of the Nazi massacre of the Jewish people, and provided warm, safe and decent homes for tens of thousands of Jewish refugees.
Jewish Times Asia - July / August 2012