Ethnic/Religious Minorities

US President Donald Trump (L) welcomes Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on Aug. 8, 2025.

Feature

Backed by Trump and Turkey, Armenia's Pashinyan eyes third term in pivotal poll

As Russia and the West vie for influence, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan appears on track to secure a new mandate for his peace agenda with Azerbaijan and rapprochement with Turkey.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ahmed Tibi takes part in a demonstration against rising crime rates against Arab-Israelis in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 31, 2026.

Interview

Ahmad Tibi says Arab parties in Israel can block Netanyahu without joining next government

Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Israeli Ta’al party, accused US President Trump of enabling Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to continue the war in Gaza and escalate settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Ahmad Tibi

Ahmad Tibi

Israeli Arab lawmaker

San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl speaks at a press conference following a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego in Southern California, on May 18, 2026.

Three victims identified in San Diego mosque attack: What to know

One of the victims, Amin Abdullah, was a security guard at the center who "played a pivotal role in preventing this from being much worse," San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.

Ali al-Zaidi

Iraq's Shiite alliance nominates Ali al-Zaidi as PM candidate: What to know

Ali al-Zaidi, who leads a bank accused of money laundering, received support from previous nominee Nouri al-Maliki and incumbent Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, though it remains unclear whether the Trump administration will approve of him.

Latest News

Iran arrests Ahwazi separatist leader amid war crackdown: What to know

Iranians carry the coffin of one of the people killed in a shooting attack, during their funeral in the city of Izeh in Iran's Khuzestan province, on November 18, 2022. In some of the worst violence since the protests erupted, assailants on motorbikes shot dead seven people, including a woman and two children aged nine and 13, at a central market of Izeh on the evening of November 16, 2022, state media said. (Photo by ALIREZA MOHAMMADI / isna / AFP) (Photo by ALIREZA MOHAMMADI/isna/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Hostage to Hormuz, can Gulf rewire future energy flows to bypass Iran’s chokepoint?

A police speed boat patrols the port as oil tankers and high speed crafts sit anchored at Muscat Anchorage near the Strait of Hormuz on March 30, 2026 in Muscat, Oman.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

Displacement and dissent: Hezbollah’s war with Israel splits Lebanon’s Shiites

A Hezbollah flag is seen in a destroyed car after an Israeli airstrike in Nabi Chit (Al-Nabi Shayth), Lebanon, on March 26, 2026. In the first week of March, the Israeli army carried out an unsuccessful nighttime commando operation there to recover the remains of Ron Arad, a pilot missing since 1986, triggering airstrikes and destruction in the area that forced residents to flee their homes. (Photo by Fabio Bucciarelli / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Karim Safieddine

By Karim Safieddine

In Beirut, reporting on politics

Lebanon scrambles to contain tensions over displacement as Israel ups threats

Displaced families set up tents along Beirut's waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 10, 2026, after fleeing recent Israel-Hezbollah hostilities.

A picture shows the Armenian car park in the Old City of Jerusalem on December 13, 2023. When bulldozers rolled into Jerusalem's Old City to start work on an Israeli settlement that would build a luxury hotel atop a fourth of the historic Armenian quarter, residents rapidly mobilised. Ever since the construction work began, Armenians have set up camp -- bringing tents, stoves, mattresses and a TV -- to a weeks-long sit-in to guard the land. Inside a tent, wooden planks patch up the holes left by constructio

Founder of 'Save Armenian Quarter' is confident in victory in Jerusalem land case

Hagop Djernazian expressed confidence in an interview with Al-Monitor that the community has galvanized its efforts to prevail in the case.

Entrance to the Magen Abraham synagogue in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Aug. 11, 2009.

Culture

Passing of leader of Lebanon’s tiny Jewish community comes at heavy moment

The country is now home to 29 Jews, as thousands fled during the civil war in the past century amid rising anti-Jewish sentiment.

Quique Kierszenbaum/Getty Images

Armenian clergy members attacked in Jerusalem over real estate dispute

Hooded men attacked several Armenian clergymen and theology students, apparently in relation to a disputed deal for the sale of a parking lot inside the Armenia Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Palestinian Issa Kassissieh, dressed as Santa Claus.

In shadow of Gaza, Christmas is canceled in Israel this year

Against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, Arab Israeli municipalities — including in Nazareth, Jerusalem and Haifa — canceled all grand Christmas celebrations.

Assyrian Christians from Iraq, Syria and Lebanon attend a Christmas mass at Saint Georges church in an eastern Beirut suburb on Dec. 25, 2014.

Assyrian Christmas message raises tensions in Turkey’s parliament

The tensions are a snippet of the larger conflict regarding citizens’ rights to speak their mother tongues in the public and official sphere in multiethnic Turkey.

Relatives of Israeli-Bedouins kidnapped in Gaza call on world leader to assist the campaign for their release, Dec. 14, 2023.

Relatives of Israeli Bedouins kidnapped by Hamas plead for France's help

Relatives of Israeli Bedouins kidnapped by Hamas Oct. 7 are hoping to raise international awareness of their plight.

Policemen stand guard outside Sweden's embassy in Tehran on June 30 2023, during a demonstration denouncing the burning of Islam's holy book.

Iran Sunni province awaits crackdown after militant attack

Iran's past pledges to give a "decisive" response to similar militant attacks in Sistan-Baluchistan have effectively meant widespread local raids, a rise in executions and stricter security controls in the already restive region.

A man snaps a picture of a red rose raised by a protestor, during a demonstration in Syria's rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib on Aug. 25, 2023.

Anti-Assad protests in Syria’s Suwayda persist, fueled by economic turmoil

The protests in southern Syria, historically a government stronghold, persist amid widespread economic strife in the war-torn country.

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed, who were shot in Burlington on Saturday.Credit...Awartani Family,

Who are the 3 Palestinian students shot in Vermont as hate crimes spike?

The shooting occurred during a time of heightened bigotry toward Arabs, Muslims and Jews amid the Israel-Hamas war and follows a string of similarly violent incidents.

Fallen Druze

After battling Hamas, Druze leaders ask Israel for more than special status law

In mourning for community victims killed by the militant group in Gaza, Druze patience is wearing thin toward a law discriminating against them.

A religious protester holds a portrait of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden during a protest rally against the United States on July 30, 1999, in Islamabad.

Why is bin Laden’s ‘letter to America’ trending during Gaza war?

The controversial 2002 letter explains the al-Qaeda leader and 9/11 mastermind’s reasons for attacking the United States.

A woman walks along a building whose facade is covered with Stars of David painted during the night, in the Alesia district of Paris, France, Oct. 31, 2023.

France investigates suspected Russian role in Star of David graffiti in Paris

French police are investigating whether Stars of David spray-painted on Parisian buildings in late October were directed by Russian actors.