Except the inception of the war wasn't one-sided, which is why Keeper Hawen and his clan admit they were wrong.
And the Dalish live a life of hardship in order to maintain their religious beliefs and cultural traditions. They aren't asking others to feel sorry for them; even their mantra is: "Never again shall we submit".
The actual start of the war was quite one-sided, but that's because we can easily isolate acts of war. These discussions confuse blame with the political background with the immediate violation of sovereignty that precipitated the war.
But in any event the Dalish do ask for others to feel sorry for them. Every justification offered for their views flows from their being abuse victims. The whole point IS to feel sorry for them, and on a broader level to consider what is right and wrong when it comes to making victims of historic violence whole.