Twenty-five years after 9/11, Brenda Berkman, the first woman firefighter in the New York City Fire Department and a first responder at the World Trade Center, joins Ilana Bet-El to recount the harrowing reality of that day and the months that followed, reflecting on its lasting impact on responders and the often-overlooked role of women at Ground Zero.
Following the signing of the 14-point peace plan in Versailles, it would appear that the war in the Middle East is over, at least according to President Trump. However, the absence of both Israel and Lebanon from the agreement would suggest otherwise. Suzan Haidamous, Beirut-based correspondent for the Washington Post, joins ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El to break down events in Lebanon and the wider region.
Following the agreement of the ceasefire between Iran and the United States earlier this week, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El is joined by Professor Lina Khatib of both the Harvard Belfer Center and Chatham House, to assess who “won” this war, the ramifications for Iran’s proxies across the region, and what the survival of the regime means for the wider world.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 was a shock to the Middle East, with the Gulf states aligning with the US, and Iran cultivating a “Shia Crescent” in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Dina Esfandiary joins ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El to guide us through the historical and geographic complexities of Iranian-American hostilities.
Iran is at a boiling point. In January, mass protests broke out across the country, and many thousands of people were wounded and killed. Meanwhile, the US has moved an aircraft carrier and a number of destroyers close to Iran in a military threat which remains unclear in its aims. To untangle these and many other threads, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El welcomes back Iran specialist Roxane Farmanfarmaian, her co-Senior Associate Fellow at the ELN, for a deep and fascinating examination of Iran at a crossroads.
In light of the recent Gaza ceasefire, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El is joined by a Palestinian and an Israeli – Dr Tahani Mustafa (ECFR) and Dr Miriam Rosman (Dvorah Forum) – for a frank and raw discussion that lays bare both the hope and the deep divisions that persist in the Israel-Palestine conflict.