Quote:

Originally posted by Dave:
I'd say that's happening already [conquest of Palestinian areas], and has been happening for a while. I don't see America selling the PLO helicopter gunships.

Its a flawed strategy. How can the US be an unbiased mediator while it supplies one side with weapons and not the other?




Because Israel is a state defending its borders, whereas many within the Palestinian territory will pursue nothing less than the annihilation of Israel.

Guns in Israel are used to fight terrorism and defend Israel's borders.
Guns sold to Palestine will never be limited to defending Palestine, they will be used to destroy Israel.

The West Bank was part of Jordan until 1967.
And Gaza was part of Egypt.

Until those regions, and the willing Palestinian participants who live there, waged decades of terrorism, and several wars(in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973), on Israel.


After several wars and ongoing terror, after these areas were captured and given back to Egypt and Jordan in 1948-1956, Israel opted not to give these lands back to their Arab neighbors after the 1967 war. They have been the staging points of countless raids and terrorism on Israel. The West Bank and Gaza, and the Golan Heights on the northern Syrian border, were kept as defensive regions.

It's not out of tyranny or expansionism that Israel occupies these regions, it's out of self-preservation.

These tragic Palestinians who just want their own nation and an end to occupation, routinely chant "Death to Israel!"
As do their other Arab neighbors.
The level of hate and aggression toward Israel bodes badly for the Palestinians, or any of the Arab states, honoring any agreement or plattitudes of peace for very long. The split second they have the provocation or a perceived upper hand, they will act to destroy Israel.

More to the point of answering your statement, we don't arm Palestine because we've already negotiated their sovereignty in the 1993 and 1994 Oslo Accords.
And up until Israel's invasion of the West Bank that began on March 29th, Palestinians enjoyed considerable autonomy under PLO rule, even without final completion of the Oslo provisions, 95% of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza were living under Palestinian rule, and most of them still are.

Israel endured TWO YEARS of suicide bombings and terror that occur almost daily, before it finally launched an invasion of the cities of Jenin and Ramallah in the West Bank, to destroy the bases used to train Palestinian suicide bombers.

Looking at Israel's "peaceful" neighbors:
Saddam Hussein in Iraq gives $25,000 to the families of every Palestinian suicide bomber who blows himself up in Israel, Saudi Arabia held a Jerry Lewis Labor Day-style telethon to give money to the suicide bombers' families, Muslim leaders throughout the region praise suicide bombers and terrorists as "martyrs for Allah".
All of which convinces me that, no matter what is given, no negotiated peace will be honored by the Arabs and Palestinians.

Arms sold to the Palestinians would not be used to defend Palestinian borders, they would be used to wipe Israel off the map.

The below-linked map shows that all of Israel's population centers are well within range of artillery, once the West Bank is given up.
Which is potential suicide for Israel to relinquish, if Palestine chooses not to be a peaceful neighbor.

http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/100/maps/missle.html