"Those people" can laugh: and they sometimes use knives and forks

Look at this intro in the NYT: "For all of the animosity, mistrust and lack of understanding between the West and the Muslim world, this small Middle Eastern country has demonstrated that most people here have the capacity to laugh at themselves — and at jokes about bodily functions, too." First of all, what does the "West" have to do with anything here? Unless it is implied that the West invented humor, in addition to blenders of course. Secondly, what kind of assumption is being dispelled here? That "those people" can laugh, so wake up the children and release the pigs from the barn? What is next for the foreign investigative team of the New York Times? A story how Arabs know how to flush their toilets and to use a towel? How condescending. (thanks Karim)