Aren't most of these monks and priests Palestinian themselves? Of course they would defend their blood brothers, regardless of their actions. Witness the barbaric feuds between Arab states...but let an outsider interfere and they stand together so tightly you can't stick a paper clip between them. "Blood is thicker than water..."
Also, in several phone interviews a priest (Palestinian) inside the church said something to the effect of, "We heard a loud noise and they (the terrorists inside) told me the Israelis were attacking the church." So apparently the clergy inside are not exactly eyewitnesses to the claims of the Palestinians, but are merely echoing what their brethren tell them is going on. Thus, even the accounts of the priests on the inside are not entirely credible, in my view. Every last one of them interviewed by phone was Palestinian and indicate that their stories are relays of what the gunmen told them occurred.