The media in the West contribute greatly to this perception
The media (NY Times, CNN, etc.) constantly equate the deaths of innocent Israeli civilians with Palestinian "Gunmen". Here is one of many examples. The NY Times on 9/8 (I wrote them a letter about this headline which they of course did not print)ran a headline "Two Israelis, One Palestinian Killed in New Violence", from that headline you would think that the casualties were comparable. However, the 2 Israelis killed were 2 unarmed female teachers on their way to school. The Palestinian killed was armed and on a mission to strike inside Israel. Are these equatable? Is this an appropriate headline? A more appropriate headline would be "2 Israeli Teachers Killed on the way to school; Israel kills Palestinian terrorist on a mission to strike Israel"