Emily Harris
International Correspondent Emily Harris is based in Jerusalem as part of NPR's Mideast team. Her post covers news related to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. She began this role in March of 2013.
Over her career, Harris has served in multiple roles within public media. She first joined NPR in 2000, as a general assignment reporter. A prolific reporter often filing two stories a day, Harris covered major stories including 9/11 and its aftermath, including the impact on the airline industry; and the anthrax attacks. She also covered how policies set in Washington are implemented across the country.
In 2002, Harris worked as a Special Correspondent on NOW with Bill Moyer, focusing on investigative storytelling. In 2003 Harris became NPR's Berlin Correspondent, covering Central and Eastern Europe. In that role, she reported regularly from Iraq, leading her to be a key member of the NPR team awarded a 2005 Peabody Award for coverage of the region.
Harris left NPR in December 2007 to become a host for a live daily program, Think Out Loud, on Oregon Public Broadcasting. Under her leadership Harris's team received three back to back Gracie Awards for Outstanding Talk Show, and a share in OPB's 2009 Peabody Award for the series "Hard Times." Harris's other awards include the RIAS Berlin Commission's first-place radio award in 2007 and second-place in 2006. She was a John S. Knight fellow at Stanford University in 2005-2006.
A seasoned reporter, she was asked to help train young journalist through NPR's "Next Generation" program. She also served as editorial director for Journalism Accelerator, a project to bring journalists together to share ideas and experiences; and was a writer-in-residence teaching radio writing to high school students.
One of the aspects of her work that most intrigues her is why people change their minds and what inspires them to do so.
Outside of work, Harris has drafted a screenplay about the Iraq war and for another project is collecting stories about the most difficult parts of parenting.
She has a B.A. in Russian Studies from Yale University.
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In the 1990s, Israelis and Palestinians made temporary arrangements in the West Bank as they worked toward a peace deal. The talks are now in the deep freeze, but the arrangements are entrenched. -
We journey the rugged hills and windy roads of what's known as Area C. It comprises most of the Israeli-occupied West Bank — it's where Israelis and Palestinians rub shoulders as closely as anywhere.
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Arab political parties in the Jewish state are trying to win more seats in the country's parliament. For the first time, the 4 main Arab-Israeli parties have joined under one banner on the ballot.
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French Jews, many with roots in North Africa, have immigrated to Israel since the country's founding. Unlike previous generations, the latest wave of arrivals is retaining more of its French identity. -
As a year of conflict in the Mideast comes to a close, we look back at how Israeli and Palestinian parents explained the Gaza war to their children as the rockets flew.
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American Jewish college student Amelia Wolf spent Hanukkah last year in Ramallah. As the holiday approached, she was lonely — until her Palestinian hosts got wind of how she was feeling. -
The Islamic State is not believed to be in the Gaza Strip. But a flier in its name was recently sent around the territory. Both Israel and Hamas are trying to use it to their advantage. -
The two leading Palestinian factions recently agreed to end a feud and work together. But in the Gaza Strip, the wounds have not healed from a nasty bout of infighting in 2007. -
Israel was founded as a homeland for the Jewish people. But a proposal to define it in law as a Jewish state has become a hot-button political issue. Opponents say it's a undemocratic mix of religion and law.
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After a deadly attack by a Palestinian militant last month, Israel blew up his apartment. Israel says the aim is deterrence, while others call it collective punishment.
