Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Knowing What You're Talking About

Barry Rubin analyzes the results of the Fatah conference by taking a close look at each of the 18 members of the new Central Committee. He's not bowled over with optimism.

I don't know if he's right. On the one hand, he kows a lot more about this than I do. On the other hand, I remember watching Mikhail Gorbachow, back in the old days, doing precisely not what any of the experts said he would do, so I'm wary of experts knowing stuff in advance.

But it is refreshing to see what an expert can do. Have a look at his piece, then tell me when was the last time you saw any analysis of anything about the Palestinians that was remotely as well-informed as this? You know what? Tell me if you know of any Western journalist who even knows all the names of these fellows.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

For additional information, here is Khaled abu Toameh's summary from the Jerusalem Post:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1249418582678&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

-Zvi