Friedman really believes it and that's what's most disturbing about these Arab Human Development Reports. Friedman has been promoting them as signs that there are reformers willing to deal with the problems of the Arab world. Yet how do these reformers talk of Israel? Earlier Friedman had written:

In the West it was avoided because a toxic political correctness infected the academic field of Middle Eastern studies - to such a degree that anyone focusing on the absence of freedom in the Arab world ran the risk of being labeled an "Orientalist" or an "essentialist." It was also avoided because Western governments basically told Arab leaders that all they needed to do was keep their oil pumps open and their prices low and be nice to Israel. If they did all that, they could deny their own people the freedom America advocated everywhere else.

He excused the anti-Israel and anti-American rhetoric as "cover."
But Friedman missed the point. Anti-Israel sentiment is part of what holds the Arab world back. Israel allows the Arab world to paint itself as more sinned against than sinning, when, in fact, Israel offers Arabs more freedom than any other Arab state does! And instead of exposing this charade, apologists everywhere, Friedman included, accept it unquestioningly.
The second Arab Human development report was about the "knowledge deficit" in the Arab world. But nowhere in the report was there even a hint that perhaps the Arab world should open up its academies to researchers from Israel where some of the leading scientific research is being done. Nope, the Arab reformers are too moral for that. How could they possibly recommend contact with the country that suppresses the Palestinians who weren't granted an independent state for the nineteen years Yesha and Gaza were under Arab control? There's something perverse in this phony moral outrage with Israel. And yet it is constantly indulged by the sophisticates who ask how we can judge the Arab world when we support Isreal. Or insist that America be evenhanded when dealing with democratic Israel and the Palestinians whose national movement is represented by an unreformed terrorist organization.
Here's a quote from the latest:

The continued occupation of the Palestinian territories by Israel, the US-led occupation of Iraq and the escalation of terrorism adversely influenced Arab human development. Israeli occupation of Palestine continues to impede human development and freedom
Israel continued its violation of the Palestinians’ right to life through direct assassinations of Palestinian leaders and the killing of civilians during raids and incursions into, and re-occupation of cities and villages in the West Bank and Gaza. Between May 2003 and June 2004, and as a result of repeated invasion and bombing, a total of 768 Palestinians were killed and 4,064 injured. 22.7 per cent of Palestinians killed during that period were children under 18.
In the past year, Israel has continued its violations of individual and collective freedoms of Palestinians. This is evident in the many forms of collective punishment, including arbitrary arrest and detention, and repeated restrictive closures.
Israel also continued its policy of demolitions, destroying property and land. Its incursion into Rafah in May 2004 alone left some 4,000 Palestinians homeless after the Israeli army demolished their homes. Palestinians have therefore sustained enormous social and economic losses. Currently 58.1% of the population subsists below the poverty line.

And this is all, of course, Israel's fault. Not Israel's response to terror. (One of the intellectuals who contributed to this report is erstwhile Palestinian presidential candidate, Mustapha Barghouti.) And given that this report is about governance in the Arab world it's curious that not a word (in the Executive Summary) notes the corruption of the Palesitnian Authority, choosing, rather to blame the poverty of the Palestinians on Israel.
I also noticed two other interesting things in the Executive Summary.
1) In noting the level(s) of freedom in the Arab world, Palestine is one of four countries - well it's not a country but let's not quibble here - which had a real presidential election.
2)

The study also explored the extent to which Arabs thought that they enjoyed those components of freedom in their own countries. The
survey covered five Arab countries (Algeria, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Morocco) that represent about one quarter of the Arab population.
Interviewees in all five countries indicated that, in their view, the level of enjoyment of individual freedoms was comparatively high, whereas the enjoyment of ‘public’ freedoms was relatively low, especially regarding good
governance.
For most interviewees, freedom of movement, marriage and ownership of property, and the freedom of ‘minorities’ to practice their own culture, topped the list of freedoms enjoyed in their countries. The existence of effective political opposition, an independent media and judiciary, transparent and accountable governance, and successful anti-corruption measures were put at the low end of the scale of enjoyment.

So then the Palestinians even under occupation considered their "...enjoyment of individual freedoms was comparatively high." It's again, an admission that the occupation is not nearly so brutal as portrayed.
Yet Friedman recklessly supports the notion that Israel contributes to the lack of freedom in the Arab world. These free thinkers are not so free as to acknowledge that "occupation" whether by Israel or by America has actually improved the lot of those Arabs under those "occupations." Nope, They are still wedded to the idea that Israel is - or perhaps Israel and America are - the root of all evil.
So if we need further proof that the Arab world is in trouble, it comes not from what this report accomplishes, but from what it demonstrated still has not changed. The Arab world still possesses a pathological hatred of the West - and of Israel in particular - that ensnares even its intellectuals. Until these intellectual look at their problems honestly, they will change nothing. This isn't mere boilerplate, giving cover to a daring expose. It is a deeply held belief that undermines the report's chance of effecting change.
Crossposted on Israpundit and Soccer Dad.