Orientalism on Steroids. You have to read this: "Learning to Think like an Arab Muslim: a Short Guide to Understanding the Arab Mentality: By Edward V. Badolato, Executive Vice President for Homeland Security." Excerpts:
"In the Arab world there is little stigma placed on the loss of self control and what westerners would consider hysterical public outbursts of emotion. This is a particularly frequent factor in group dynamics, and it is often demonstrated by the way in which a crowd can suddenly give way to outbursts of anger and violence."
"Not only are the listeners moved, but Arabic has an impact on speakers as well. Orators are prone to be carried away in verbal exaggeration when speaking before an audience. This exaggeration is called mubalagha in Arabic, but it is not considered to be a derogatory term by the Arabs. Rather it is considered to be an admirable capacity for oratorical eloquence. A key point in understanding Arab hyperbole is that their mentality finds nothing wrong with eloquent exaggeration because they feel that words really shouldn't be taken at all times at their face value."
"Even though the nomadic bedouins presently make up a very small portion of the Arab population, they have always been considered the "Arabs par excellence" and the repository of traditional Arab culture and values. The bedouin ethic is thought to be the ideal moral code by most Arabs." [In this section and in others, the author needs to share royalties of his publication with Raphael Patai. Just to be fair.]
"Arabs are extremely sensitive to any slight to their honor, and it follows that any insult to one's honor must be revenged." [Here, I thought that he may be onto something. I wanted to test his theory myself, whether in Arab culture--but not in others--any slight to a person's honor is considered offensive. So I did what I do in such situations. I went about to test the theory by myself. I left my house, and went to my neighbor who has been a patient object of my empirical research on differences between Arab and American cultures. He was the same neighbor who welcomed the barrage of shoes that I tossed at his face because he was willing to explain that the deed is not insulting in American culture. So I started hurling insults at my neighbor, and insulted the honor of his mother and wife. And to my surprise, he chuckled. He asked me whether I read the Arab Mind. He explained that insults to someone's honor in the West is not insulting at all. I returned to my house having learned what I knew not before.]
"face (wujah)". [Here, government expert is showing his skills in Arabic, but he invoked a word that does not even exist. This was made up. Face is wajh, of course.] (thanks Nir)