There's a great story in the May, Atlantic Monthly by Mark Bowden.

It has this great quote:


"Most people would say that the main conflict in Iraqi society is sectarian, betweeen the Sunni and the Shia Muslims. But the big gap has nothing to do with religion. It is between the mentality of the villages and the mentality of the cities." The speaker, Saad Al-Bazzaz, goes on to explain that in the villages the tribe is the source of all security and the recipient of all loyalty. The only thing that counts is violent power. In the cities, society is more like the West. Peace and law are primary values, because they allow relationships and cooperation to operate freely. He then points out that Saddam Hussein is basically a villager who has gotten far enough to control a nation through thuggery.?

In a larger sense, this is what's wrong with all Arab societies. They are basically tribal and they belong to a religion that views the world in tribal terms, where control comes from above and settles over all, who are required to submit. Submission is the translation of Islam.
The Arabs are basically a tribal people, as were the Hebrews. But the Jews, the modern remnant of the Israelites have been changed by being scattered throughout the world and have lost that element of their character. They have embraced modernity, science and technology, while Muslims have haven't kept pace. This tribal loyalty is transferred to Islam, which keeps them from thinking independently or speaking out about the harm being done by people like Arafat, Saddam and Bin Laden.