By Eileen Freed
The Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann Arbor are proud to present ISIS: The Day After – A Look from Within, a lecture by renowned Israeli war correspondent and documentarian, Itai Anghel, Wednesday, April 3, 7 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center.
In the past few years, historic changes have been occurring in the Middle East. As sovereign states disintegrate, millions are fleeing and changing also the nature of the European continent. This mayhem has been associated with the rise of a new force, one that is more organized and ruthless than has been seen before – the Islamic State (ISIS).
ISIS has spent years orchestrating massacres in Iraq and Syria, forcing their extreme radical Islam on civilian populations in horrific ways and attempting to form an Islamic caliphate to rule the Middle East. Today, due to the joint international effort to defeat the organization, the Islamic State is battling for its survival, but its jihadist ideology remains. In the meantime, on the ruins of the Islamic State, an unprecedented Shia crescent makes Iran the dominant force in Syria, Iraq and South Lebanon.
Itai Anghel - awarded Israel’s highest journalism award, the Sokolov Prize, in 2017 - has extensive experience in the region. As the only Israeli journalist who has covered Syria and Iraq including the fall of Saddam Hussein and Islamic State, he has spent significant time in both countries. In his lecture, he presents rare encounters with ISIS fighters, dynamic and updated maps of the region and exclusive pieces of his documentaries to help his audience understand the process that led to the rise and fall of the Islamic State and other Jihadists elements in the region.
Mr. Anghel is one of the most prominent TV journalists in Israel. He is known for his unique field-work and in-depth documentaries. He has a unique ability to deeply and fearlessly explore the most dangerous hot-spots around the globe, while intimately connecting with all parties involved. During his career, Anghel has covered conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Haiti, Indonesia, Chechnya, Rwanda, Kenya, Congo (DRC), South Africa, Lebanon, Gaza, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq and Syria. Mr. Anghel works for the Israel TV’s Channel 2 documentary and current affairs program “UVDA”. His documentaries have received the “Best TV Documentary” award five times from the Israeli Forum for Documentary Filmmakers, and he was awarded the International Media Awards “Cutting Edge Award” in 2010 for his “superb and unbiased cover of the Middle East”.
In addition to his journalistic work, Mr. Anghel founded a humanitarian project to help women raped in the civil war in Congo. Israeli gynecologists set up clinics in the jungles of East Congo and provide on-going guidance to local medical and nursing personnel. Mr. Anghel is a lecturer on world conflicts at Tel Aviv University and the Interdisciplinary College (IDC) in Herzliya and is spending the year in Ann Arbor as a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan.
The event is free and open to the public. RSVP’s are appreciated. To register, please visit https://www.jewishannarbor.org/get-involved/itai-anghel or email events@jewishannarbor.org. For more information, visit https://www.jewishannarbor.org/get-involved/itai-anghel or contact Karen Freedland at the Jewish Community Center, 734-971-0990, karenfreedland@jccannarbor.org.