Ellie Cohanim is a Senior Fellow at Independent Women’s Forum (IWF); host of “Global Perspectives with Ellie Cohanim” for Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) and a National Security Contributor to Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).

Ms. Cohanim previously served as U.S. Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism at the U.S. Department of State by appointment of the President of the United States and the US Secretary of State. Ms. Cohanim was the State Department’s first Iranian-born Envoy, and led diplomatic initiatives which resulted in forging groundbreaking partnerships in the Arab world to combat anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and Islamophobia. As Deputy Envoy, Ms. Cohanim was the lead official for the State Department in creating and implementing policy on countering anti-Semitism in the Near East and Western Hemisphere regions.

Ms. Cohanim can often be seen on Fox News, Newsmax, JBS & CBN networks as well as internationally on Al Arabiya; El Akhbariya, Iran International and Al Ghad TV. Ms. Cohanim is a columnist for CBN News and a contributor to The Hill, National Review, Newsweek,Washington Examiner, Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) and New York Jewish Week.

Ellie Cohanim arrived as a child refugee to the US, after she and her family fled the escalating anti-Semitism in Iran during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Previously, Ellie Cohanim was Senior Vice President and Special Correspondent for the Jewish Broadcasting Service (JBS) and was an executive at Yeshiva University; The Jewish Theological Seminary; and UJA-Federation of New York. She serves on the boards of the Iranian-American Jewish Federation of NY, and Latino Coalition for Israel; and has previously sat on the boards of the American Jewish Committee (AJC-NYR), the New York Jewish Community Relations Council, and the Ester Chapter of Hadassah.

Ellie Cohanim received her B.A. in Political Science, Cum Laude, from Barnard College, Columbia University; and conducted graduate study in International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is fluent in Hebrew and Farsi; familiar with German, and Arabic.

Fleur was born in Gibraltar. She studied law at King’s College, University of London, and received her Master’s degree in Conflict Research Management from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her father, Joshua Abraham Hassan, served as senior minister and mayor of Gibraltar.

Hassan-Nahoum returned to London in 1991 to study and work as a lawyer in London, after which she became the director of global operations for the World Jewish Relief charity.

Catherine Perez-Shakdam is a French Jewish political analyst and commentator for the Middle East. A former consultant for the United Nations Security Council on Yemen’s War Economy; her research was instrumental in better understanding Yemen’s political landscape and actors’ financial interests.

Her writing and commentaries on the Middle East have graced the cover of countless publications, including the Huffington Post, BBC Arabic, BBC Persia, Voices of America, and the Times of Israel.

In 2017 Catherine was the only Western media personality to have been granted an interview with now-President Ibrahim Raisi.

Her ability to move close to Iran’s Leadership and have access to key information as to the regime’s propagandist structure bought her the ire of Tehran and allegations that she had operated in Iran at the behest of foreign powers.

Once a close friend to Nader Talebzadeh, Catherine had a front row seat to the inner-workings of the Islamic Republic.

Helena Ivanov is an associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society. She recently completed a PhD in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research focuses on the relationship between propaganda and violence against civilians. In her thesis, Helena examined the role propaganda played during the Yugoslav Wars and produced a model for studying propaganda which details the key phases, functions, discourses, and techniques of propaganda (the model itself is applicable to other contexts). Additionally, Helena also served as a Manager at the Centre for International Studies at the LSE.

Prior to her PhD, Helena completed an MPhil in Political Theory at the University of Oxford, and holds a BA in Politics from the University of Belgrade.

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EVENT SUMMARY

The Henry Jackson Society was pleased to welcome Fleur Hassan-Nahoum for an event discussing the pressing issue of the war on women worldwide, and methods which can be used to fight it. Dr Helena Ivanov began by introducing the speakers. Fleur Hassan-Nahoum then referenced gender equality in Israel whilst discussing the importance of women being in leadership positions, before emphasizing that the people in power never hand over power willingly and thus women must take it themselves. Catherine Perez-Shakdam cited Iran as the worst country for women’s rights and urged more progressive countries to sanction the nation and facilitate Iranian women in their revolution. She proceeded to explain sexist Iranian law and outlined harrowing examples of the extreme violence and oppression faced by women in Iran. Dr Helena Ivanov continued by discussing the war on women in seemingly more progressive countries, highlighting that for gender equality to be achieved a constant fight is necessary and words must be put into action. Finally, the speakers answered questions on women in leadership positions, the Supreme Court ruling banning abortion rights and on whether we should support armed resistance of Iranian women.

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