In Judeo-Christian guilt culture we attach a lot of value to truth, sincerety and individual rights. The feeling of guilt is allowing us to live in accordance with our own morality and the dominant ethics system. But in the Arabic-Islamic shame culture it's more important how others see you. In this culture honor must be preserved and shame must be averted at all cost. You have basically carte blanche to do whatever evil comes to mind, as long as no one finds out about it (the hypocs!). Just consistently deny everything!
It is well within the range of possibilities that some one will not even admit to himself that he (or his culture) is guilty. As long as others think he's innocent, feelings of shame and guilt can be avoided. This is why they bend over backwards to convince others of their innocence (even if they are guilty). Just remain stuck in denial. In general a shame culture festers best within a collective society, but is can survive quite well in pockets within a dominant guilt culture. Read more >>>
(kudos for efforts to @royalty)