That article is pretty hatemongering, beardedbruce. It takes the work being done by an Arab to help identify and correct the problems facing the Arab world out of context and only discusses the fact that they have problems, and ignores the fact that their purpose in identifying the problems is so that they can begin to correct them. To their credit they at least have someone who is willing to look the problems of her people squarely in the eye and be honest about them. I wish the United States had someone like her working for us at the UN.

She also has some pretty harsh words for the damage that the actions of the western countries are causing to the the Arab world's efforts to improve and reform their situation. Here's the speech she gave about the Arab Human Development Report for 2003

http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:aviwCXvLAiIJ:www.undp.org/RimaSpeechEnglish.pdf+%22Rima+Khalaf+Hunaidi%22&hl=en

"Allow me first, Your Excellency, to express my gratitude to you and my deep appreciation for your kind welcome. We are greatly honoured by your presence on the occasion of the official launch of the Second Arab Human Development Report. It is a source of immense pleasure for us that Jordan, in the reign of His Majesty King Abdullah the Second, is hosting this landmark ceremony. This generous act has given the Report team a platform from which to address the entire Arab people and a forum open to different points of view. Amman for us today is a centre for freedom of expression in service to the cause of development across the Arab world. To our distinguished guests attending from other countries of region, I offer a warm welcome to Jordan. Thank you for taking the trouble to be with us and for sharing our faith in the capabilities of this region and our concern for its future...

...In the time available to me, please allow me to accompany you on a quick tour of the second Report. This is an opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the state of knowledge in the Arab world, in particular its dissemination and production; to take note of the cultural, political, economic and social context for knowledge acquisition; and to review aspects of the authors' strategic vision for enhancing the acquisition, indigenisation and creation of knowledge. Before turning to the topic of knowledge, it is important to remember that, according to the Report team, the two years between starting the first Report and initiating the second have been two years unlike any others in recent Arab history. This has been a time of events that have shaken the world and traumatized the Arab region. In 2002, the Israeli army reoccupied almost the entire Palestinian Territories committing, notably in Jenin and Nablus, a series of human atrocities, including wanton destruction, intimidation and killing that led reputable international non-governmental organizations to describe those acts as "war crimes".

The invasion also caused widespread material destruction that spared neither schools, nor mosques nor churches nor even olive trees. The occupation continues to undermine the capabilities of Palestinian society and its hopes of self-determination and statehood. In 2003 Iraq fell under an occupation that most Arabs saw as embodying plans to reshape the region from the outside to suit the interests of foreign powers. Over the last two years, measures taken in the name of the war on terrorism have stifled freedoms in many parts of the world, notably in the United States. Civil and political freedoms, particularly of Arabs and Muslims, were violated as a consequence. Arabs and Muslims have faced arrest and arbitrary detention without trial or charge. Contrary to established legal principles they have become guilty until proven innocent.

Islam has been the target of an unjust wave of provocation, defamation and criticism that betrays remarkable ignorance most of the time and blatant prejudice at other times. The clearest expression of what Arabs and Muslims have come to suffer as a result of ethnic profiling came from His Majesty King Abdullah The Second when he observed in his Islamic Summit speech that the pre-judgement of Muslims has come to represent the worst form of terrorism. Certain profound events only reveal their full consequences after an interval. Yet in this case the results were felt immediately. The impact of these momentous events would cripple the process of development in Arab societies imposing a pattern contrary to that desired by most Arabs.

Undoubtedly, under these new circumstances, the challenge of human development has become even more important, more urgent and harder to attain. In contrast to these externally driven events, the series of Arab Human Development Reports represents an effort to crystallize a strategic vision of change, developed by Arabs, for the sake of human development from within the region and to deepen an Arab-owned and Arab-led dialogue on ways to safeguard the dignity and well-being of the Arab people. There can be no doubt that self-reform stemming from open, scrupulous and balanced self-criticism is the right, if not the only alternative to plans that have apparently been drawn up outside the Arab world for restructuring the region and for reshaping its identity.