As Israel turns 60, Americans wonder if the conflict with Palestine will ever end.

When President Bush recently commemorated the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel by telling the Knesset, “Citizens of Israel…America will always stand with you,” he launched the latest round of rhetorical fireworks over the tension between Israelis and Palestinians. So far, everyone from Osama bin Laden to Gordon Brown has weighed in on this political conflict, which is far older than Israel itself.

Across America, communities held their own gatherings to commemorate the anniversary and show their support. “I miss Israel a lot,” said Shira Magh of Philadelphia, who had recently spent a summer in the country. “So I was thinking that if I was around all the Jewish people, I’d be able to support it.”

For Arab-Americans, however, the events were more somber. “If President Bush went to congratulate the Israelis for their 60th anniversary, maybe he should have taken a small turn to pay his condolences to the Palestinians,” said Nawal Ahmad Dajani, who was born in East Jerusalem.

Soon more Americans—at least those who consider the future of Israel and Palestine when casting their vote for president—will have their say as well. That’s what has John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton vying to outdo each other in an effort to be seen as Israel’s most impassioned friend.

Supporting our Middle Eastern ally is clearly good politics. According to a Gallup poll taken earlier this year, more than half of all Americans say their sympathies lie with Israel, compared with just 17 percent who back the Palestinian cause. And only four percent are sympathetic to both sides.

According to the poll, just four out of ten Americans believe Israelis and Arabs will one day settle their differences. And interviews with Jewish- and Arab-Americans suggest they’re just as skeptical.

But there are exceptions. Philip Farah, a Palestinian-American who left Gaza in 1948, offers some sense of hope.

“People say we’ve been fighting forever—the Palestinians and the Jews—and that’s really not true,” he said. “Germany and Israel are the best of friends, so I think that the Arabs and Jews can someday live together.”

Watch our two videos, shot at an Israeli Independence Day festival and a Palestinian commemoration, in which Jews and Arabs reflect on U.S. politics and Middle Eastern realities.