Halpern: Cracks in Arab unity?

Also via FrontPage magazine, an extraordinary article by Micah Halpern, who has noticed a sudden appearance of cultural self-criticism among leading Arab figures.

Muslim Fundamentalism is being chastised for turning the Arab world into a violent world. Muslim Fundamentalism is being blamed for altering the very fabric of Arab life and turning every facet of Arab life into an act of destruction.
      Muslim Fundamentalists are being reminded that they are neither the ultimate nor the only decision making force when it comes to Arab lifestyle, Arab life or Arab diplomacy.
      The fear of intimidation is gone. The fear of destroying the myth of Arab unity is vanishing. The fear of an Arab world bent only on violence and destruction has become too great to suppress. By embracing violence and by turning violence into their primary means of problem solving, both internally and in dealings with the outside world, the Arab world has severely diminished not only the way they are perceived by the outside world, but also the way in which they perceive themselves.

Halpern gives only two examples to back up this important claim—and one of them is a statement by Hosni Mubarak, who has (as far as I am aware) always been a political opponent of Muslim Fundamentalism. On the other hand, his other example comes from within the Islamist camp itself: from a spokesman for none other than Hamas.  Halpern cites Dr. Ghazi Hamad, in the Palestinian weekly Al-Ayam, as wondering, among other things, whether his (Palestinian?) society is suffering from a "chronic illness of violence". Halpern comments, "Truly, this is one of the first times in a very long time that I am hearing material of this critical nature coming out of the Middle East. The best and only serious self-critique we have heard has, until now, come from ex-pat Muslims musing from the safety of the West . . ."