South Sound resident has seen West Bank brutality

LORRINE THOMPSON, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Monday, May 6, 2002

Eyran Eylon knows brutality and danger exist in the West Bank area of Israel, because he has seen it firsthand.

As an Israeli soldier in the 1980s, Eylon and other soldiers took down the hanged body of a Palestinian who was thought to have some sympathies with Israel.

Palestinians speaking positively of Israel in any way are in severe danger of being labeled collaborators, Eylon said. "They're usually killed in the most brutal way."

Men have been dragged alive through the streets behind vehicles, gutted, hanged and worse, he said.

That violence is a little-known side to the attacks that have plagued Israeli citizens since the United Nations partitioned Palestine into Arab and Jewish states in 1948.

Eylon and other Olympia residents are concerned about Israel's safety, as well as the growing criticism aimed at the Israeli government and military. They say the whole story is not being told in most daily news reports. That story includes both a context for the current military action in the West Bank, and the roots of the conflict now raging.

"I would equate it with covering the end of World War II and taking pictures of Americans bombing Germany, and saying, 'Oh, look at those aggressors,' " Eylon said.

Born and raised in Haifa, Israel, Eylon came to the United States in 1989 to complete his education and is now vice president of Congregation B'Nai Torah in Olympia.

What can be easy for non-Israelis to forget are the promises of Arab neighbors over the decades to destroy Israel and the constant attacks on civilians, doctors, teachers, children, families.

Buses on the way to schools, teen-agers sitting in cafes, people shopping for groceries -- no one was safe.

"Israel put itself in a position to have a finger pointed at them by taking the West Bank in 1967," Eylon said. "But they would rather have the finger pointed than live in terror."

Israel's current military action in the West Bank to root out terrorists and their supporters began after a series of Palestinian suicide bombings took dozens of lives throughout Israel.

Tough territory

Americans also forget that Israel is a democratic country smaller than Washington state and surrounded by neighbors who hate both Jews and democracy, Olympia resident Mimi Silver said.

When the school buses and cafes are bombed or sprayed with bullets, it would be similar to those kinds of attacks happening in Olympia, Spokane or Tacoma, she said.

"There are 47 Americans to every one Israeli," said Silver, an American Jew who recently moved to Olympia from New York.

"If this was happening in the U.S.," we would be bombing whoever was responsible, she said.

"The bottom line is, they want to push Israel into the sea. And if (Americans) don't believe that, they're believing lies," Silver said.

Unlike distant news reports, the violence is close and personal.

Eylon has eaten several times with friends at a Haifa restaurant recently destroyed by a suicide bomber -- his cousin was slightly injured in the attack -- and a tenant of his parents was stabbed to death in an attack.

He said he is concerned about the lack of context in news reports.

For instance, the recent battle in Jenin has made news, but reports focused on a relatively small area destroyed in the battle while large areas left untouched were not shown, he said.

If the Israeli government wasn't concerned about Palestinian civilians, it would be easy to bomb the area from a distance and keep its own soldiers safe, he said.

In this case, 23 Israeli soldiers died, many in booby-trapped buildings.

"The Israeli government put its own soldiers at risk for the moral standing of its military," Eylon said.

When Palestinian civilians are killed in military action, the Israeli government expresses sorrow and considers it a failure, he said.

"When Israeli civilians are killed, the Palestinians dance in the streets and consider it a success," he said.

Silver is also concerned that Americans are quick to forget the hatred that many Palestinians and Arabs have for the United States.

"On Sept. 12th, Israel was flying its flag at half-staff while Palestinians were dancing in the street. That alone tells me who our friends are," she said.

"When Israel goes, we're going, too. Israel is the little devil. We're seen as the big devil," she said.

Israel's military action in the West Bank is necessary, she said, because "I believe there is only a military response to terrorism, not a political one."

Silver and Eylon said the root of the conflict has nothing to do with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which they say are legal, and violence existed well before the settlements. The conflict comes from a deep-rooted hatred of Jews and democracy, they said.

However, they sympathize with the Palestinian people and place the blame for the violence and endless conflict on Palestinian leaders.

"When people live in despair, that's not due to Israel. That's due to their own leadership," Silver said.

Americans concerned about Palestinians should encourage any new Palestinian leadership that would not support terrorism, Silver said.

A peaceful Palestinian leader "would buy the hearts of Israelis within minutes," Eylon agreed.

However, he said he has little hope of it happening soon, because a new generation of Palestinians is growing up glorifying terrorism.

Before peace can happen, Eylon said, "The link has to be broken."

Lorrine Thompson covers Thurston County and health for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5431 or lcthomps@olympia.gannett.com.

For more information

- For a news Web site that collects reports from "noncorporate" media on events in Gaza and the West Bank, and Palestinian issues, go to www.indymedia.org.

- For a news Web site with extensive details on events in Israel, the Israeli military and government, go to www. debka.com. The site received a Forbes award in 2001.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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