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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Palestinian Ala'a Miqbel thought he was going for a brief interview with Israeli security for a permit for work travel to the West Bank. Instead, he was arrested and taken to prison. There, he met Palestinian informants known as "sparrows," who masquerade as fellow prisoners and elicit information for the Israelis. -
Up a barren, narrow valley in the West Bank hills, a small community of herders raises sheep and goats. But it is also an Israeli military zone. NPR's Emily Harris visited the community one day, and returned the next to find their flimsy homes bulldozed by Israeli court order. -
Early Tuesday, Israel released another group of Palestinian prisoners convicted of violent crimes against Israelis. Former prisoner Omar Masoud says the releases legitimize the peace process for Palestinians. But the family of his Israeli victim says it's unacceptable for Israel to sell "our blood as a gesture." -
Christmas is the high season in Bethlehem. The traditional birthplace of Christ is the biggest tourist attraction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. And this holiday season, the U.S. Agency for International Development donated almost $400,000 to bolster the festivities. -
Most social networks require users to be at least 13. But Itay Eshet's daughter, like many kids, wanted to join Facebook when she was just 10. So Eshet created a site just for younger kids, designed to protect them from bullying and other risks while teaching them to navigate social media safely.
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The UN agency that supplies the basic needs for Palestinian refugees may not be able to meet December payroll for 30,000 teachers, doctors and social workers across the Mideast. The agency serves an ever-increasing number of refugees, the descendants of the Palestinians uprooted in 1948. -
"It's a new thing. I hope it will be accepted, but I'm not so sure," one resident says about women running for town council. "Here women who express themselves aren't seen as a good thing." -
Fida'a Abuassi has finally made it to the U.S. for graduate school at the University of Indianapolis. She should have been here in August, but was stuck at home in the Gaza Strip, the tiny Palestinian enclave bordered by Israel and Egypt. Leaving Gaza is rarely easy. But since the military takeover in Egypt, it's become nearly impossible. -
Ishaq Amer's home was cut off from his Palestinian village when Israel erected a separation barrier around the West Bank. More important to the 13-year-old at the time was that he was cut off from his soccer buddies. An American boy saw a documentary about Ishaq's family and wanted to know what happened to them. -
The Egyptian military operation to destroy most of the tunnels used to smuggle goods into neighboring Gaza has led to a shortage of cheap fuel and building materials. It also has led to more sewage flowing into the sea. Change is afoot, however, for the first time in six years.
