Israel Succeeds While Muslim Nations FAIL!

[JStone]

Warren Buffett

If you go to the Middle East looking for oil, you don't need to stop in Israel. But, if you're looking for brains, for energy, for integrity, for imagination, it's the only stop you need to make"
Warren Buffet on Israel - YouTube

KHALID ALNOWAISER: The Problems Facing Muslim Nations

I recognize well this is very sensitive subject because human nature prefers not to hear the truth and simply wants to receive good news even at the expense of reality. However, let’s be frank: Most Islamic countries are being left behind in social progress as compared with other nations. There are essentially five reasons for this situation.

First, we must consider the educational curriculums adopted in Islamic countries, knowing that education is the first step toward refining the talent and minds of scientists, inventors and innovators. Yet, our curriculums and our teachers, being the products of cultural norms in most Muslim countries, remain wedded to the past and unable to produce persons of creative minds and innovative ways of thinking. Why is this so? Because these curriculums and the attitudes of teachers fail to value or embrace the disciplines that are vital for today, such as subjects like mathematics, chemistry, physics, philosophy and logic, which have been disregarded and replaced, with all due respect, by mostly religious subjects and teachers who seek to impose religious dogma upon their students.

Secondly, Islamic nations generally tend to dwell in the past at the expense of the present and the future and thus become prisoners of an outmoded way of thinking. Although great progress has been achieved in the past, now such countries seem frozen in time and beholden to certain school of thoughts that have been established by those who died decades or centuries ago, unwilling or unable to foster the kind of visionary thinking and innovations epitomized even by great Muslims themselves such as Ibn Sina Avicenna, Ibn Al-Haytham Alhazen and many others. Thus, we have watched as other countries have planned for the future by emphasizing the very things that have created technologies that are compelling and popular. Times change, challenges arise, and innovators respond and adapt. So must nations.

Thirdly, Islamic nations praise the abstract at the expense of the concrete, that is, they believe in the unknown and disregard reality by permitting this mysterious situation to dominate all aspects of scientific inquiry. Although the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to the people of Madinah, You know best about the matters of your world, so we must emphasize the physical over the metaphysical in encouraging new ways of thinking. Yet, we remain obsessed with the taboos, heresies and errors of every useful science and do all we can to suppress legitimate questions. When all sorts of freedoms, sciences, inventors and innovators are suppressed and restrained, we are left with those scientists who specialize in the fields of halal and haram, etc.

Fourthly, Islamic countries are obsessed with angels and demons, God and Satan. In other words, if something fails on the job or in school (let’s say an employee is fired from his job for poor performance or a student is expelled because of excessive absences or disciplinary problems), then the failure is due to the fact that God has decided that it is not meant to be, or Satan and his devilish schemes have caused it to fail. Conversely, if it succeeds, then this is God’s plan and the result of prayer to keep Satan away. Why are we unable to face reality and acknowledge the fact that we rely too much on intangible things, remaining confused? Why do we embrace a culture that promotes an escape from reality? How strange is that?

Finally, we can see that Islamic nations have used lame and illogical excuses to push art aside and intentionally hide it from their people. All kinds of art such as music, theater, painting, and sculpture have been de-emphasized or completely disregarded and buried alive. This has led to creating shaken and disturbed personalities and spirits, stifling talents that could add to the enjoyment of life. Art is a means to satisfy our soul and feed our emotions, producing a more confident, balanced and spiritual humanity and motivating people to live and work, and even more, to create, innovate and give of themselves to others. Art protects humanity from all that can bring it down and allows spirits and hearts to soar high into a sky filled with optimism and hope and to move steadily down the road of innovation, creation and discovery.
The problems facing Muslim nations - Arab News

Winston Churchill...

How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.

The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.

A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.

Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.

No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.
Amazon.com: The River War (9781598184259): Sir Winston S. Churchill: Books

 

[JStone]

Bill Gates...

Israel is by many measures the country, relative to its population, that's done the most to contribute to the technology revolution

Warren Buffett...

If you go to the Middle East looking for oil, you don't even stop at Israel. But, if you go looking for brains, for energy and for integrity, Israel is the only stop you make.

CNBC...

When you look at the NASDAQ, companies are listed from around the world. There's one country, though, that truly stands out and that is Israel

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHStBGk_D8Y]Israel Innovation - YouTube[/ame]

 

[JStone]

Israel: Second Most-Educated Country in the World

Israel is the second most educated country in the world, says a report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The organization's 2011 edition of "Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators," highlights Israel for its high percentage of the population in possession of post-secondary degrees. With 45% of Israelis completing university degrees, Israel ranks ahead of countries such as Japan (44%), the US (41%), the UK (37%), only lagging behind Canada (50%).
Israel among world's most educated count... JPost - National News

UN: Arab World Rife with Illiteracy & Lacks Innovation

U.N. report finds one third of Arabs illiterate and only $10 per person spent on scientific research. The level of education, research and innovation in the Arab world is appalling, a new United Nations report has claimed.

The report, produced as part of a partnership between the United Nations Development Program and the United Arab Emirates-based Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, found that despite the efforts of scientists and researchers throughout the region, the Arab world makes up only 1.1% of global scientific publishing and the low level of investment into research has led to relatively low levels of innovation throughout the Arab world.

Examining a number of aspects of "the current Arab knowledge landscape," the report expressed "grave concerns over the state of education in the Arab world," with over one third of the adult population unable to read or write and major educational discrepancies between males and females.

The report found that despite 20% of national budgets in the Arab world being spent on education over the past 40 years, the average Arab individual reads very little compared to other societies and around 60 million Arabs are illiterate, two thirds of them women.

With almost nine million primary school-aged children not attending school in the Arab world, it is predicted that only a few select Arab nations will meet the universal primary education goal of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals.

The report's harshest criticism was reserved for the lack of investment in academic and scientific research, hampering the ability of Arab nations to meet global occupational, technical and higher education standards. The report found that spending on scientific research in the Arab world does not exceed 0.3% of most nations' GDP and is 97% dependent on government funding.

While nations like Finland were found to spend over $1000 per person on scientific research each year, less than $10 per person is spent annually on scientific research in the Arab world. As a result, the number of patents registered with Arab national institutions is minimal and Arab scientists and researchers account for 1.1% of global scientific publishing.

"Things are really bad," Dr Ghassan Khateeb, Vice President of Community Affairs at Birzeit University in the Palestinian Territories, told The Media Line. "There is a direct relation between the lack of investment and the problematic situation we find ourselves in relation to knowledge."

"This is all related to politics," he continued. "The lack of democracy and lack of knowledge reinforce each other: the lack of education contributes to the lack of democracy and the fact that rulers can remain rulers without the will of the people. In turn, the fact that there is no proper democracy in the Arab world means that there is less incentive among rulers to really invest in knowledge of the kinds of things that have a positive impact on the public which would elect them."

"When there are vicious circles you have to work on both education and democratization together," he said.

The report was also critical of the quality of university education, citing a lack of emphasis on modern communication technologies and specialized sciences. "As a result," the UNDP wrote in a statement, "the region lacks a critical mass of highly skilled professionals equipped with the ability to innovate and capable of answering the needs of the marketplace."
UN: Arab World Rife with Illiteracy & Lacks Innovation | Menassat

 

[SAYIT]

Israel: Second Most-Educated Country in the World

Israel is the second most educated country in the world, says a report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The organization's 2011 edition of "Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators," highlights Israel for its high percentage of the population in possession of post-secondary degrees. With 45% of Israelis completing university degrees, Israel ranks ahead of countries such as Japan (44%), the US (41%), the UK (37%), only lagging behind Canada (50%).
Israel among world's most educated count... JPost - National News

UN: Arab World Rife with Illiteracy & Lacks Innovation

U.N. report finds one third of Arabs illiterate and only $10 per person spent on scientific research. The level of education, research and innovation in the Arab world is appalling, a new United Nations report has claimed.

The report, produced as part of a partnership between the United Nations Development Program and the United Arab Emirates-based Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, found that despite the efforts of scientists and researchers throughout the region, the Arab world makes up only 1.1% of global scientific publishing and the low level of investment into research has led to relatively low levels of innovation throughout the Arab world.

Examining a number of aspects of "the current Arab knowledge landscape," the report expressed "grave concerns over the state of education in the Arab world," with over one third of the adult population unable to read or write and major educational discrepancies between males and females.

The report found that despite 20% of national budgets in the Arab world being spent on education over the past 40 years, the average Arab individual reads very little compared to other societies and around 60 million Arabs are illiterate, two thirds of them women.

With almost nine million primary school-aged children not attending school in the Arab world, it is predicted that only a few select Arab nations will meet the universal primary education goal of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals.

The report's harshest criticism was reserved for the lack of investment in academic and scientific research, hampering the ability of Arab nations to meet global occupational, technical and higher education standards. The report found that spending on scientific research in the Arab world does not exceed 0.3% of most nations' GDP and is 97% dependent on government funding.

While nations like Finland were found to spend over $1000 per person on scientific research each year, less than $10 per person is spent annually on scientific research in the Arab world. As a result, the number of patents registered with Arab national institutions is minimal and Arab scientists and researchers account for 1.1% of global scientific publishing.

"Things are really bad," Dr Ghassan Khateeb, Vice President of Community Affairs at Birzeit University in the Palestinian Territories, told The Media Line. "There is a direct relation between the lack of investment and the problematic situation we find ourselves in relation to knowledge."

"This is all related to politics," he continued. "The lack of democracy and lack of knowledge reinforce each other: the lack of education contributes to the lack of democracy and the fact that rulers can remain rulers without the will of the people. In turn, the fact that there is no proper democracy in the Arab world means that there is less incentive among rulers to really invest in knowledge of the kinds of things that have a positive impact on the public which would elect them."

"When there are vicious circles you have to work on both education and democratization together," he said.

The report was also critical of the quality of university education, citing a lack of emphasis on modern communication technologies and specialized sciences. "As a result," the UNDP wrote in a statement, "the region lacks a critical mass of highly skilled professionals equipped with the ability to innovate and capable of answering the needs of the marketplace."
UN: Arab World Rife with Illiteracy & Lacks Innovation | Menassat

Again I believe you are beating a dead camel. Even honest Arab/Muslim scholars admit their culture has hamstrung Arab ability to aid human progress. That Israel has surpassed the entire Arab/Muslim "world" (yeah, they require their own world) is no surprise. Israel has an unfair advatage.

 

[JStone]

Israel: Second Most-Educated Country in the World

Israel is the second most educated country in the world, says a report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The organization's 2011 edition of "Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators," highlights Israel for its high percentage of the population in possession of post-secondary degrees. With 45% of Israelis completing university degrees, Israel ranks ahead of countries such as Japan (44%), the US (41%), the UK (37%), only lagging behind Canada (50%).
Israel among world's most educated count... JPost - National News

UN: Arab World Rife with Illiteracy & Lacks Innovation

U.N. report finds one third of Arabs illiterate and only $10 per person spent on scientific research. The level of education, research and innovation in the Arab world is appalling, a new United Nations report has claimed.

The report, produced as part of a partnership between the United Nations Development Program and the United Arab Emirates-based Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, found that despite the efforts of scientists and researchers throughout the region, the Arab world makes up only 1.1% of global scientific publishing and the low level of investment into research has led to relatively low levels of innovation throughout the Arab world.

Examining a number of aspects of "the current Arab knowledge landscape," the report expressed "grave concerns over the state of education in the Arab world," with over one third of the adult population unable to read or write and major educational discrepancies between males and females.

The report found that despite 20% of national budgets in the Arab world being spent on education over the past 40 years, the average Arab individual reads very little compared to other societies and around 60 million Arabs are illiterate, two thirds of them women.

With almost nine million primary school-aged children not attending school in the Arab world, it is predicted that only a few select Arab nations will meet the universal primary education goal of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals.

The report's harshest criticism was reserved for the lack of investment in academic and scientific research, hampering the ability of Arab nations to meet global occupational, technical and higher education standards. The report found that spending on scientific research in the Arab world does not exceed 0.3% of most nations' GDP and is 97% dependent on government funding.

While nations like Finland were found to spend over $1000 per person on scientific research each year, less than $10 per person is spent annually on scientific research in the Arab world. As a result, the number of patents registered with Arab national institutions is minimal and Arab scientists and researchers account for 1.1% of global scientific publishing.

"Things are really bad," Dr Ghassan Khateeb, Vice President of Community Affairs at Birzeit University in the Palestinian Territories, told The Media Line. "There is a direct relation between the lack of investment and the problematic situation we find ourselves in relation to knowledge."

"This is all related to politics," he continued. "The lack of democracy and lack of knowledge reinforce each other: the lack of education contributes to the lack of democracy and the fact that rulers can remain rulers without the will of the people. In turn, the fact that there is no proper democracy in the Arab world means that there is less incentive among rulers to really invest in knowledge of the kinds of things that have a positive impact on the public which would elect them."

"When there are vicious circles you have to work on both education and democratization together," he said.

The report was also critical of the quality of university education, citing a lack of emphasis on modern communication technologies and specialized sciences. "As a result," the UNDP wrote in a statement, "the region lacks a critical mass of highly skilled professionals equipped with the ability to innovate and capable of answering the needs of the marketplace."
UN: Arab World Rife with Illiteracy & Lacks Innovation | Menassat

Again I believe you are beating a dead camel. Even honest Arab/Muslim scholars admit their culture has hamstrung Arab ability to aid human progress. That Israel has surpassed the entire Arab/Muslim "world" (yeah, they require their own world) is no surprise. Israel has an unfair advatage.

Why deny me the simple pleasure of bashing muslims? Did I ever do anything to you?

 

[Mr. H.]

You've bored us all to death with endless threads droning on about the same bullshit.

 

[JStone]

You've bored us all to death with endless threads droning on about the same bullshit.

You're a pitiful loser in life. It sucks being you. We get it.

 

[Saigon]

Stone -

I think Mr H may be right. By my count you have 14 threads about Israel on Page 1 of this section alone - and yet I suspect you have never actually been within 1,000 kms of the country. Would I be right?

Informed opinions are worth reading - but tired old cliches and gossip not so much.

 

[Roudy]

Stone -

I think Mr H may be right. By my count you have 14 threads about Israel on Page 1 of this section alone - and yet I suspect you have never actually been within 1,000 kms of the country. Would I be right?

Informed opinions are worth reading - but tired old cliches and gossip not so much.

Stone is 150% right. It doesn't require him to have gone to Israel point out the prevalent depravity and barbaric mindset of Muslims. He is doing a great job highlighting who and what Israel is up against.

 

[SAYIT]

Israel: Second Most-Educated Country in the World



UN: Arab World Rife with Illiteracy & Lacks Innovation

Again I believe you are beating a dead camel. Even honest Arab/Muslim scholars admit their culture has hamstrung Arab ability to aid human progress. That Israel has surpassed the entire Arab/Muslim "world" (yeah, they require their own world) is no surprise. Israel has an unfair advatage.

Why deny me the simple pleasure of bashing muslims? Did I ever do anything to you?

I deny you nothing. I'm just pointing out the obvious ... that Israel has surpassed the entire Arab/Muslim "world."

 

[Roudy]

Again I believe you are beating a dead camel. Even honest Arab/Muslim scholars admit their culture has hamstrung Arab ability to aid human progress. That Israel has surpassed the entire Arab/Muslim "world" (yeah, they require their own world) is no surprise. Israel has an unfair advatage.

Why deny me the simple pleasure of bashing muslims? Did I ever do anything to you?

I deny you nothing. I'm just pointing out the obvious ... that Israel has surpassed the entire Arab/Muslim "world."

When you are dealing with a crowd that denies the Holocaust, and claims that Jews did 9-11, it's never enough.

 

[SAYIT]

Stone -

I think Mr H may be right. By my count you have 14 threads about Israel on Page 1 of this section alone - and yet I suspect you have never actually been within 1,000 kms of the country. Would I be right?

Informed opinions are worth reading - but tired old cliches and gossip not so much.

Cliches and gossip? While Stone's act here may be tiring to those who post regularly, his posts are probably informative for the casual observer and a constant irritation for those who post unadulterated camel-crap. There is nothing bogus about the quotes he uses (repeatedly) nor about the depraved and oppressive nature of Arab/Muslim culture. Yearly UN sponsored but Arab authored state of the Arab World reports basically make the same points Stone does. Do you consider those Arab scholars to be dealing in cliches and gossip?

 

[SAYIT]

Why deny me the simple pleasure of bashing muslims? Did I ever do anything to you?

I deny you nothing. I'm just pointing out the obvious ... that Israel has surpassed the entire Arab/Muslim "world."

When you are dealing with a crowd that denies the Holocaust, and claims that Jews did 9-11, it's never enough.

Not all of the anti-Israel crowd denies the Holocaust or perpetrates looney 9/11 conspiracy theories. Frankly, those who do discredit both themselves and their "cause" which, of course, is spreading their hate for Jews.

 

[JStone]

Investor's Business Daily: How Free Israel Prospers As Islam Remains In The Dark

Israel, a New Jersey-sized nation of 7.5 million people (1.7 million of whom are Arab) filed 7,082 international patents in the five years ending in 2007. By contrast, 28 majority-Muslim nations with almost 1.2 billion people — 155 times the population of Israel — were granted 2,071 patents in the same period. Narrowing the comparison to the 17 Muslim nations of the Middle East from Morocco to Iran and down the Arabian Peninsula, the 409 million people in that region generated 680 patents in five years.
This means that the Arab and Iranian world produced about one patent per year for every 3 million people, compared with Israel's output of one annual patent for every 5,295 people, an Israeli rate some 568 times that of Israel's neighbors and sometime enemies.

The awarding of Nobel Prizes in the quantitative areas of chemistry, economics and physics shows a similar disparity, with five Israeli winners compared with one French Algerian (a Jew who earned the prize for work done in France) and an Egyptian-American (for work done at Caltech in California).

But wealth isn't the sole explanation for this disparity in intellectual innovation. Saudi Arabia enjoyed a per capita income of $24,200 in 2010. Yet the Kingdom averages an anemic 37 patents per year compared with Israel's 1,416 per year — and there are 3 1/2 times more Saudis than Israelis, meaning that Israel's per capita output of intellectual property is 132 times greater than Saudi Arabia's.

The telltale signs of Israel's economic rise can be seen in the Tel Aviv skyline and the new office complexes around Jerusalem. International giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. was founded in 1901 by three pharmacists in Jerusalem. Today it employs 40,000 around the world. Teva has a market cap of $44.2 billion — the most highly valued company based in Israel and the ninth-largest firm traded on the Nasdaq

A few miles from Teva's gleaming office campus west of the Old City sits the former national mint building for the British Mandate. Built in 1937, this renovated building, along with the old Ottoman Empire railway warehouses next to it, houses the JVP Media Quarter and 300 entrepreneurs.

The complex hosts Israel's leading venture capital firm, Jerusalem Venture Partners, as well as 35 startups and a performing arts center for good measure. JVP, which has helped launch 70 companies since 1993, has more than $820 million under management with seven active venture capital funds.

The Media Quarter concept was created in 2002 when JVP founder Erel Margalit wanted to create a media-focused incubator that combined technology, culture, art and business. JVP has shepherded 18 initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, including some of the largest Israel-based companies: Qlik Technologies, Netro Corp., Chromatis Networks, Precise Software, Cogent Communications.

Less than 300 miles separate the purposeful creative buzz in the JVP Media Quarter from the restive streets of Cairo, where the Muslim Brotherhood tells Egypt's unemployed that their plight is the fault of corrupt capitalists and Jews. It doesn't take a Nobel Prize-winning economist to figure out where these two economies are going.
How Free Israel Prospers As Islam Remains In Dark - Investors.com

 

[Saigon]

Cliches and gossip? While Stone's act here may be tiring to those who post regularly, his posts are probably informative for the casual observer and a constant irritation for those who post unadulterated camel-crap. There is nothing bogus about the quotes he uses (repeatedly) nor about the depraved and oppressive nature of Arab/Muslim culture. Yearly UN sponsored but Arab authored state of the Arab World reports basically make the same points Stone does. Do you consider those Arab scholars to be dealing in cliches and gossip?

I don't see much difference between gossip and cliches from people who hate Israel, and gossip and cliches from people who hate Arabs.

Both sides tend to peddle misinformed and misanthropic garbage about countries they have never set foot in.

Frankly, I'd like to see both sets of nutcase extremists locked in a library for a year.

 

[Urbanguerrilla]

They seem to be doing ok

Dubai

Welcome to Abu Dhabi

Saudi Arabia

Beautiful Turkey: Are you ready?

 

[SAYIT]

They seem to be doing ok

Dubai

Welcome to Abu Dhabi

Saudi Arabia

Beautiful Turkey: Are you ready?

Lamo cherry-picking.
Nearly half of the Arab World is illiterate. More books are published in Greece than the entire Arab World. Crippling ignorance and poverty are their most prevalent natural resources.

 

[JStone]

BBC: How Israel Became A High-Tech Hub

Tiny Israel, a country embroiled in conflicts for decades, has managed to transform itself from a stretch of farmland into a high-tech wonder

Israel currently has almost 4,000 active technology start-ups - more than any other country outside the United States, according to Israel Venture Capital Research Centre

In 2010 alone the flow of venture capital amounted to $884m (£558m).

The result: high-tech exports from Israel are valued at about $18.4bn a year, making up more than 45% of Israel's exports, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics

Israel is a world leader in terms of research and development spending as a percentage of the economy; it's top in both the number of start-ups and engineers as a proportion of the population; and it's first in per capita venture capital investment. Not bad for a country of some eight million people - fewer than, say, Moscow or New York.

Over just a few decades, Israeli start-ups have developed groundbreaking technologies in areas such as computing, clean technology and life sciences, to name a few.
BBC News - How Israel turned itself into a high-tech hub

The Economist Magazine: Arab World Self-Doomed To Failure

WHAT went wrong with the Arab world? Why is it so stuck behind the times? It is not an obviously unlucky region. Fatly endowed with oil, and with its people sharing a rich cultural, religious and linguistic heritage, it is faced neither with endemic poverty nor with ethnic conflict. But, with barely an exception, its autocratic rulers, whether presidents or kings, give up their authority only when they die; its elections are a sick joke; half its people are treated as lesser legal and economic beings, and more than half its young, burdened by joblessness and stifled by conservative religious tradition, are said to want to get out of the place as soon as they can.

One in five Arabs still live on less than $2 a day. And, over the past 20 years, growth in income per head, at an annual rate of 0.5%, was lower than anywhere else in the world except sub-Saharan Africa. At this rate, it will take the average Arab 140 years to double his income, a target that some regions are set to reach in less than ten years. Stagnant growth, together with a fast-rising population, means vanishing jobs. Around 12m people, or 15% of the labour force, are already unemployed, and on present trends the number could rise to 25m by 2010.

Freedom. This deficit explains many of the fundamental things that are wrong with the Arab world: the survival of absolute autocracies; the holding of bogus elections; confusion between the executive and the judiciary (the report points out the close linguistic link between the two in Arabic); constraints on the media and on civil society; and a patriarchal, intolerant, sometimes suffocating social environment. The great wave of democratisation that has opened up so much of the world over the past 15 years seems to have left the Arabs untouched. Democracy is occasionally offered, but as a concession, not as a right. Freedom of expression and freedom of association are both sharply limited. Freedom House, an American-based monitor of political and civil rights, records that no Arab country has genuinely free media, and only three have “partly free”. The rest are not free

Knowledge. “If God were to humiliate a human being,” wrote Imam Ali bin abi Taleb in the sixth century, “He would deny him knowledge.” Although the Arabs spend a higher percentage of GDP on education than any other developing region, it is not, it seems, well spent. The quality of education has deteriorated pitifully, and there is a severe mismatch between the labour market and the education system. Adult illiteracy rates have declined but are still very high: 65m adults are illiterate, almost two-thirds of them women. Some 10m children still have no schooling at all. One of the gravest results of their poor education is that the Arabs, who once led the world in science, are dropping ever further behind in scientific research and in information technology. Investment in research and development is less than one-seventh of the world average. Only 0.6% of the population uses the Internet, and 1.2% have personal computers.

Women's status. The one thing that every outsider knows about the Arab world is that it does not treat its women as full citizens. How can a society prosper when it stifles half its productive potential? After all, even though women's literacy rates have trebled in the past 30 years, one in every two Arab women still can neither read nor write. Their participation in their countries' political and economic life is the lowest in the world.
Arab development: Self-doomed to failure | The Economist

 

[Saigon]

When you are dealing with a crowd that denies the Holocaust, and claims that Jews did 9-11, it's never enough.

True, but I assume you are also aware that most Holocaust deniers are American, right?

 

[Saigon]

Nearly half of the Arab World is illiterate. More books are published in Greece than the entire Arab World. Crippling ignorance and poverty are their most prevalent natural resources.

more gossip and cliches...

Literacy rates:

Azerbaijan 99.5
Albania 99.1
Qatar 94.7
Kuwait 94.5
Indonesia 92

Bhutan 52.8
Laos 68.7
Bangladesh 55.9
Nepal 68.9

So why aren't you saying Asians are illiterate?