Thanks for your reply:
btw, Iranians are not Arabs - they are the Persian race and culture. Completely different than Arabs - we even cook our Kabob totally different.
Persians are the ones with all the deep culture, poetry, universal declaration of human rights, mathematicians, astronomers, carpets, etc.. Arabs basically are good at invading and destroying.
I cannot tell, based on your response, whether you are Arab or Persian. My reference to the 'Arab Street' is from the popular lexicon of today and is meant to encompass all Muslims and our supposed need to 'win' their hearts and minds.
You'll excuse me if I have a VERY difficult time equating Iranians (Persians) or any predominantly Muslim country with Human Rights. I've seen too much over the past few years to buy into that.
As for the rest of the contributions on your list i.e. poetry, mathematicians, astronomers, all these ceased as soon as oil was discovered in the ME and Asian sub-continent and they decided they no longer needed to be concerned with the advancement of their societies or the rights of their citizens.
IMHO