Behind the Rage
Michael C. Hudson, a professor of Arab studies at Georgetown University, offered several reasons that Arab outrage is going off the charts: The Palestinian problem is bigger than other concerns, for it has involved an entire society, several wars and the disruption of neighboring countries; it is older, having burdened the Arab consciousness since the end of World War I; it is more visible, emerging from television screens every moment; it is worse, at least in perception.

"Whether you measure it in deaths, eviction from home and homeland, destruction and loss of property, the ruination of lives in refugee camps, psychological damage to children, or the continual insults from the conquerors and their American patron — this issue is an existential nightmare from which there seems no awakening," Professor Hudson said.

Another reason for the double standard in the Middle East is that Arab countries are shame-based societies, and Israeli repression of Arabs is seen not just as brutal, but also as humiliating.

When a group of Yemenis scolded me for American support of Israel, I retorted that America supports the Middle Eastern leader who gives his Arab citizens the greatest political freedom, and that's Ariel Sharon. There was a long pause. Then one replied that Israel is a colonial outpost and that as a result while Israeli Arabs may have ballots and free speech, they have no dignity. In other words, protesters are enraged not just because Israel kills Arabs, but also because it humiliates them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/16/opinion/16KRIS.html?todaysheadlines