I was quite sympathetic to them

and more and more so, as the film went on, even though Im certainly no politically-correct liberal.

the punks who messed with their car and came in and badmouthed his mom, certainly deserved to be beaten down.

they were nice folks, and deserved a break.

the only ????? though, is that the writers/storytellers chose to make them non-muslim Arabs, possibly making them muslim offers the potential to add depth to the story, which tended to be a little simple, politically.