RJ, first of all, you're right this time. There was no reason to throw in "Mr. newly found backbone," etc. in the post you quote from. I noted that I was as much of a "mixed bag" as K on the "when do we raise our voice/what options do we pursue" front; so there's no reason to ridicule him for basically being in the same basic ideological quandry as I find myself. Intervene to advance Western secularism? I don't think it works. Watch people stoned to death for adultery? I don't like how that sounds either.
Regarding literacy, I feel Daniel on the "something else going on" front. Just as we have very few translations happening in the U.S., but you couldn't spit in a real-time (U.S.) 'Spherean gathering without hitting someone who's reading (or writing) a translation, the friends of Arab descent who I have also read a good deal in languages other than Arabic.
I wonder how deep the "elite" runs in that neck of the woods -- a small elite would certainly square the stats with the anecdotal evidence. I certainly don't like the prospect of "proving" this one, personally. I find that various Semites get along when we get to the U.S., away from turmoil, and I think it's that experience of meeting and working with the "other" that makes that possible (and often pleasurable.) There's no joy in thinking another society is just without interest in other culture -- though the oft-mentioned "Arab Street" is often presented in that way, and certainly the extremists in many Muslim countries lend support to the "general" notion. The textbooks used by even the more moderate Arab regimes, point to the idea that this enlightened elite is either not running the show, or making some very ugly compromises if indeed they are.
However, I feel like I've waded in on this one way too deeply and quickly, probably seizing on a few stats and making a grand statement about them. I'll leave you guys to it for the moment.
Thanks,
Dan
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