An Egyptian friend of mine wrote this...

The thin line between love and hate: explaining self-hate
Take a moment to contemplate before passing judgement on this unorthodox characterization. By 2004, Arabs, especially those who live in the Middle East, find themselves in a humiliating and sorrowful condition - we are at the bottom of the pile of human development; as a nation, a people or group of states it can be argued that we have failed. Despite the enormity of the disaster which is being Arab in the early 21st century only a minority of Arabs in the Middle East or in the Diaspora - yes "Diaspora" - are concerned. Widespread apathy, fatalism and resignation have increased our tolerance of oppression and suffocated our desire to reject the status quo. All that remains is the lonely voice of the Self-Hating Arab who cringes at the narratives, attitudes and realities of his world. They resist, demonstrate and write in the hope of improving their lot only to be arrested, beaten by riot police, held in administrative detention, tortured, laughed at, dismissed as westernised, traitorous or naive for turning their attention from the Americans and the Zionists and choosing to blame themselves, their society and their leaders for the crapulence.
Our states are ruled by absolute monarchs and despotic "secular" dictators, all of whom employ varying degrees of brutality and state oppression to enforce their hold on power. We, Arabs that is - tolerate anything that they throw at us; corruption, never ending emergency laws, chronic poverty, nepotism, financial mismanagement, poor public infrastructure, unsustainable development, substandard education systems, endless propaganda, censorship, police brutality, legal systems and constitutional rights that are not respected, a complete absence of accountability; rigged elections (the famous 99.95%) hereditary republics, unconstitutional monarchs, reformers who don't reform, democrats who are undemocratic, so- called brotherly leaders and nations singing each other's praises in public only to conspire and work against each other behind the scenes. The scandal that is Arab politics is difficult to quantify and impossible to summarise. Many are content to attribute all our problems to the conspiracies and intricate plans to undermine and subjugate us that exist in Tel-Aviv, Washington and London. The time has come to cast these simplistic and convenient explanations aside, for although they may be part of the problem they certainly are no justification or explanation for the circumstances.

"Society" is a problematic term. nevertheless Arab society is implicated in bringing about its own decline. Where once we were pioneering, expressive, experimental, and scientific, we are now simply consumers of modernity and not its creators. Whenever we feel the need for self-assurance of our ability we resurrect the past. The scholars, writers and leaders of medieval Arab history continue to be our only source of pride but in many ways our reverence for them prevents us from forming a determination of our future. Curiously, for all our vociferous canonization of our medieval forefathers, we selectively extract their vague "Arabness" from their more profound contributions to human civilization: the spirit of experimentation, intellectual flexibility, and life that, if genuinely practiced today, would brand us as unorthodox, treasonous, or worse. We seem to be torn between, on the one hand, a tradition that we plunder for propaganda and, on the other, a modernity that we uncritically consume.

We are infected by patriarchal hierarchy and an aversion to confronting our shortcomings. We are often unable to say what we mean or be honest because of our conception of shame. If the Catholics invented guilt then we invented shame - ???. It is designed as a preventative measure to steer us away from acts or attitudes deemed immoral, but it has also acted as a powerful inhibitor causing many of us to lie and conceal our true actions. Saying what you mean is often hard.

There are many beautiful and admirable qualities in Arab society, but to list them in this context could perhaps be interpreted as condescending attempt to compensation for the grave picture that has so far been presented, it would not help to appear apologetic or politically correct at this stage. Suffice to say that those of us who are familiar with the people, humour, customs and literature of the Arab world would agree that its is often a source of inspiration.

Self-hate is an accidental or involuntary label. It's about how others perceive you rather than how you perceive yourself. From the outset it would be good to recognise that the term is most commonly used to describe Jews or Israelis who are openly and unashamedly critical of certain values, practises or narratives prevalent in their society, state or government. These individuals, who question and oppose the moral and philosophical validity of accepted truths, are dismissed as self-hating or consumed by a desire to undermine their own.

In an Arab context self-hate is not yet common currency, but those of us who don't accept the lies, propaganda, rhetoric and restrictions of thought imposed on us are often seen as dangerous outsiders. Perhaps one day we will be described as pathological self-haters too. In the meantime this location in cyberspace invites you to discuss anything about the Arab world or being an Arab that trouble you as an intellectual. There are few rules except that you believe that honesty is essential, that there are no absolutes or accepted truths and finally that you are able to talk about uncomfortable subjects.
This is not meant to be aggressive, just thought provoking. If a character assassination of Arabness was the point then not much would have to be said, our condition speaks for itself. It is because we care about our future and have a burning desire to change its current course that the words and sentences are so harsh.
A Self-Hating Arab is an honest, thoughtful and progressive Arab.

Your Children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself
They come through you but not from you
And though they are with you they, yet they belong not to you
You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you
For life goes not backwards but tarries with yesterday.

Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

oh yeah check this out... lots and lots of amazing political/subversive articles