my empathy lies with the jews, mainly because i feel the arabs' zealous religious ideologies are light-years away from "the way things are" (by which i mean my views on universal reality as expressed through theology, philosophy of religion, and metaphysics).
these arab extremists are a people who seek death, for themselves and others. they believe they will be rewarded in the afterlife for their nefarious brand of "holiness" by being surrounded by a plethora of willing virgins. the are religious exlusivists in the extreme. they are the antithesis of tolerance, a concept which the human race must increasingly embrace, or suffere the likely consequence of total annihilation.
i understand the hands of the jews are not totally clean in this. i mean, the jews lost posession of modern-day Israel THOUSANDS of years ago during the diaspora. it was only very recently they decided they wanted it back. and yes, they took it by force, displacing those who were already there. sounds a bit like something my own beloved countrymen did just a few hundred years ago to an indigenous people. i can't really make a conclusive commentary on this. part of me believes this country was born via one of the greatest cultural tragedies of all time in the destruction of the native american population. the other part of me thinks change is the only constant in this life, and you either jump on the wagon or get run over.
in my eyes, the bottom line is this: the jews are a more tolerant, socially aware, and spiritually mature people than are the palestinians. from a social evolution point of view, the jews are more justified in pushing out the palestinians than the early americans were in overwhelming the indians.