Jane Arraf
Jane Arraf covers Egypt, Iraq, and other parts of the Middle East for NPR News.
Arraf joined NPR in 2016 after two decades of reporting from and about the region for CNN, NBC, the Christian Science Monitor, PBS Newshour, and Al Jazeera English. She has previously been posted to Baghdad, Amman, and Istanbul, along with Washington, DC, New York, and Montreal.
She has reported from Iraq since the 1990s. For several years, Arraf was the only Western journalist based in Baghdad. She reported on the war in Iraq in 2003 and covered live the battles for Fallujah, Najaf, Samarra, and Tel Afar. She has also covered India, Pakistan, Haiti, Bosnia, and Afghanistan and has done extensive magazine writing.
Arraf is a former Edward R. Murrow press fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Her awards include a Peabody for PBS NewsHour, an Overseas Press Club citation, and inclusion in a CNN Emmy.
Arraf studied journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa and began her career at Reuters.
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In Iraq, Pope Francis was recalled as a courageous leader who worked to deepen inter-faith understanding. -
Before 2015, Palmyra was considered one of the world's most intact ancient Roman sites. ISIS blew up many key monuments of this storied Silk Road city. Syrians hope restoration can begin now. -
The new leadership vowed to disband all militias. But the fiercely independent Druze have made no agreement, and say they're gathering fighters and making plans to repel government forces if needed. -
An Israeli airstrike targeted a building in an upscale neighborhood, destroying an apartment that neighbors said had been vacant for years. -
Syria's new government sent in security reinforcements and imposed curfews on a coastal area after major clashes with fighters loyal to the deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. -
Thousands of Jews left Syria in 1992, when they were allowed to emigrate. The visit by a small delegation of U.S.-based Syrian Jewish religious figures last week was their first time back since then. -
Hezbollah held a long-delayed funeral for former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in September in an Israeli airstrike. -
NPR traveled with Jordan's military on a recent helicopter flight delivering aid to the Gaza Strip, part of a test program since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect last month. -
President Trump insisted he will move forward with his vision to take the Gaza Strip, send its residents to Jordan and other Arab nations, and redevelop the territory. Arab countries oppose the idea. -
Gaza, devastated after more than a year of war, still has urgent shortages of food and medicine. Jordan has begun flying helicopters into Gaza with medical supplies. NPR joined one of the flights.
