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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It lives in Gaza. It has male private parts — and udders. People think its milk might have special powers. The government thinks it's a scam and wants to kill it. We'll find out its fate on Sunday. -
Spring in the West Bank means Bedouin herders' ewes and nanny goats are full of milk — and cheese making abounds. The traditional method relies on a few simple ingredients and a long cultural memory. -
Israel's parliamentary election is Tuesday, and so far, the race is too close to call. It's turned into a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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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. -
Israel is a small country with an extremely diverse population. NPR's Emily Harris spoke to five very different Israelis about their hopes for the election and the kind of country they want to see. -
An Israeli film playing in the U.S. shows how rabbinical rules regulating Jewish divorces in Israel can trap women. Rabbinical judges have taken the highly unusual step of seeing the film themselves. -
Two Israeli soldiers and an UN peacekeeper were killed in border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah on Wednesday — prompted by a Hezbollah revenge attack.
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Israelis are watching the latest spat between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the White House — which could worsen his country's global standing, but win him votes in Israel's March elections. -
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. -
Spain's monarchy decimated the Jewish population by expelling, killing or forcibly converting Jews in 1492. Now the country may offer their descendants Spanish citizenship.
