Ethnic/Religious Minorities

Roj Camp

Feature

ISIS brides face uncertain future as Damascus clashes with Syria’s Kurds

With Syrian government forces taking over nearby al-Hol and security breaking down, families of ISIS fighters at Roj Camp live in fear and uncertainty.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Four Arab Israeli parties join forces ahead of Israel's next elections.

Analysis

Can newly unified Arab Israeli bloc bridge gaps to block Netanyahu next election?

The move signals to their constituents that the four leaders can set aside differences to try to strengthen Arab representation in the Knesset.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images

What Israel stands to lose in Syria-SDF agreement

The agreement signed Jan. 18 for the integration of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into the Syrian state will bolster not only Turkey, Israel’s foe, but also President Ahmed al-Sharaa while he negotiates a security deal with Israel.

Soldiers walk past a parked car as Syrian government forces make their way to the city of Hasakeh in northeastern Syria on Jan. 20, 2026.

Syria’s Kurds accept sweetened ceasefire deal as US envoy Barrack declares SDF obsolete

The ceasefire follows intense clashes and a rapid Syrian military advance in the Kurdish-held northeast, amid concerns over ISIS prisoners.

Latest News

US military negotiates handover of Syria's ISIS prisons as Kurds withdraw

Members of the Syrian Kurdish Asayish security forces gather at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected Islamic State (IS) group fighters in the northeastern Hasakeh governorate, on April 18, 2025, as the Syrian Democratic Forces mount a security campaign against IS "sleeper cells" in the camp.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Analysis

Why Iran regime’s potential collapse spells more risk than benefit for Turkey

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) shakes hands with Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan during press conference in Tehran on Nov. 30, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Syria's Sharaa, Saudi crown prince discuss economic ties as SDF clashes flare

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is greeting Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Shara, left, during his arrival on Sunday at the royal palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Analysis

Hezbollah still dominant among Lebanon's Shiite, but ground is shifting

A Shiite Muslim cleric holds a picture of Hassan Nasrallah.

Karim Safieddine

Izzat Zahreddine

By Karim Safieddine , Izzat Zahreddine

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 1: Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani (C) raises his hands during a campaign event with New York City elected officials on November 1, 2025 in the Queens borough of New York City. With only days left in the race for New York City's next mayor, Mamdani remains the front runner against Independent candidate, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

For Arab and Muslim Americans, Mamdani's victory grants seat at table

Zohran Mamdani will be New York City’s first Muslim mayor, a milestone celebrated by Muslim and Arab organizations nationwide.

Sipan Hemo

Exclusive

SDF commander Hemo: Syria’s Kurds prepare for threat of war as Damascus talks falter

As US-brokered talks stall, Kurdish forces are preparing contingencies while continuing dialogue with Damascus to secure Syria’s future, SDF commander Sipan Hemo told Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Ghazal Hashmi walks in the annual Norfolk State University Homecoming Parade, on Oct. 25, 2025.

Ghazala Hashmi makes history as first Muslim US woman elected statewide

Virginia state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi made US history Tuesday, winning the lieutenant governor’s race and becoming the first Muslim-American woman elected to statewide office.

New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, center, celebrates with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), left, and US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), right.

Zohran Mamdani elected as New York’s first Muslim mayor

Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist and state lawmaker, made history Tuesday as New York City’s first Muslim and first South Asian mayor.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

A United Nations convoy evacuating families from Sweida moves through the buffer zone in Busra al-Harir in Syria's southern Daraa province on July 22, 2025.

Bus attack in Syria’s Suwayda kills 2 as violence flares: What to know

Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hiji is calling for independence for southern Syria’s Suwayda province as violence continues in the area despite a July ceasefire.

Kurds wave Kurdistan Workers' Party flags (PKK) and flags depicting Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, during a demonstration to call for Ocalan's liberation outside the European Council in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Sept. 15, 2025.

Exclusive

PKK leader Ocalan appeals to Iraqi Kurdistan president for help in Turkey peace talks

In a letter shared exclusively with Al-Monitor, the jailed PKK leader asks Barzani to help advance negotiations aimed at ending decades of conflict with Turkey.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

MOHAMAD DABOUL/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria: Siege persists in Aleppo’s Kurdish enclaves despite SDF-Damascus truce

Tensions are rising over plans to integrate the Kurdish-led SDF into the new Syrian military amid clashes between government-affiliated and Kurdish forces in Syria’s largest city.

BARBOD KHORSHIDI/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Grenade attack on IRGC kills 2 in Iran’s Kurdistan province: What to know

The deadly assault comes amid recurring tensions and clashes in Iran’s Kurdish-majority western region.

Former senior commander of the Sudanese Janjaweed militia Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman.

In a first, ICC convicts Sudanese militia leader of Darfur war crimes

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman was found guilty of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur between 2003 and 2004.

An election poster of Henry Hamra, a Syrian-American parliamentary candidate who is the son of the country's last rabbi and who if elected will be the first Jewish representative in the Syrian parliament since the late 1940s, is displayed on the entrance of the closed Jewish Maimonides School of Damascus, in the Jewish quarter of the old city of Damascus on Oct. 3, 2025, ahead of the upcoming vote on Oct. 5.

Syria's parliamentary elections: First Jewish candidate in 58 years enters race

Syria is holding its first parliamentary elections since the fall of the Assad regime, with a Jewish candidate running for the first time in decades in a vote conducted largely through indirect selection rather than a direct public ballot.

Women and children walk at the Al-Amal Camp (formerly Al-Jadaa), south of Mosul in northern Iraq, which houses Iraqi families who have been repatriated from Syria's Al-Hol camp, on May 8, 2025.

Pentagon pushes to accelerate ISIS detainee repatriations from Syria

Uncertainty about Syria’s long-term stability and the the US military’s future presence in the country have increased urgency among some Pentagon officials to further reduce the population of nearly 30,000 suspected ISIS-associated detainees in the camps.

Interim Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa appears in the Citadel of Aleppo in Syria, on May 27, 2025.

Syria holds first post‑Assad parliamentary vote: What to know

Syria’s first post-Assad parliamentary elections — with seats chosen by local committees rather than a public vote — spark backlash as the government postpones voting in Druze- and Kurdish-majority regions.