Xenia Svetlova, "On Heels in the Middle East" (Pardes Publishing, 2020)

On Heels in the Middle East (Pardes Publishing, 2020) is the first book of Ksenia Svetlova, an Israeli journalist of Russian origin who covered the Middle East extensively during the last two decades. Svetlova takes us on a journey to Hizbullah dominated parts of Beirut, refugee camps in Gaza, Qaddafi's Libya and the revolutionary squares of the Arab Spring. She describes the fateful events that had changed the face of the Middle East such as the US invasion to Iraq or the second Palestinian Intifada and disengagement from Gaza from a unique point of view of female reporter, and explains the processes that culminated in revolutions, armed conflicts or peace agreements. "On heels in the Middle East" ties together first-hand impressions, rare interviews with key figures such as Yassir Arafat and Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the founder of Hamas and expert analysis of developments in the Middle East.

Ksenia Svetlova is an Israeli journalist, researcher of the Middle East and writer. She was born in Moscow and grew up in Jerusalem. Ksenia had covered the Middle East extensively during 13 years contributed to the Jerusalem Post, BBC, and other media outlets. Between 2015-2019 she served as a member of the Israeli government. She currently serves as a senior research fellow at the Institute for Policy and Strategy (at the IDC Herzliya) and runs a program for Israel-Middle East relations at Mitvim institute for regional foreign policy.

Dr. Yakir Englander is the National Director of Leadership programs at the Israeli-American Council. He also teaches at the AJR. He can be reached at: Yakir1212englander@gmail.com

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