Ethnic/Religious Minorities

Police vehicles are seen on a road after a shooting incident at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Dec. 14, 2025.

What we know about Ahmed al-Ahmed, bystander who wrestled attacker in Sydney shooting

The 43-year-old man, a father of two and the owner of a fruit shop in a Sydney suburb, was shot twice.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Iranian soldiers keep watch at a patrol post in Zabol, southeastern Iran, near the Afghan border, on Oct. 10, 2012.

Analysis

Militant merger in Iran’s Baluchistan signals new threat to Tehran

The group’s outreach to broader ethnic communities reflects a strategic bid for wider legitimacy and a role in the wider struggle against the Islamic Republic.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Head of Israel's Raam, Mansour Abbas, speaks at his campaign headquarters in the northern Israeli city of Tamra before national election polls close, on Nov. 1, 2022

Analysis

Stunt or recalibration? Israel's Raam to break with Muslim Brotherhood

Raam leader Mansour Abbas took a huge political risk this week, announcing the party will sever its ties with the Islamic Movement.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

rabbi

Culture

In first, Syria approves restoration of Jewish property, synagogues

The new organization is the latest sign of Damascus’ outreach to Syria's dwindled Jewish community.

Latest News

As Syria marks one year since Assad fall, some minorities skip celebrations

TOPSHOT - This aerial view shows people gathering to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the uprising against Syria's former president Bashar al-Assad for the first time since he was toppled in the Umayyad Square in the centre of Damascus on March 15, 2025. The rally in Damascus was the capital's first after years of repression under Assad, during which the square was the sole preserve of the ousted president's supporters. Activists called on people to hold similar demonstrations in the major cities of Homs

Pope Leo gets rock star's reception in Lebanon, drawing cheers, celebrations

Pope Leo XIV waves to a crowd of youths upon his arrival at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke, north of the capital Beirut, on December 1, 2025. Leo prayed for peace in Lebanon and the region on December 1 on day two of his trip to the multi-confessional country, with joyful Lebanese welcoming the pontiff at two famous pilgrimage sites. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon celebrates Pope Leo’s visit as Israel escalates attacks

A giant billboard of Pope Leo XIV along the highway leading to Beirut's international airport, Nov. 20, 2025.

In first foreign visit, Pope Leo meets Erdogan, urges Turkey to uphold pluralism

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets Pope Leo XIV during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace, Ankara, Nov. 27, 2025.

Meet the artist haunted by violent moments in Turkey, Lebanon

Turkey's veteran artist Hale Tenger tackles coups, destruction and political assassinations in the Middle East, using marriage of poetry and images.

Libyan Jews' potential return sends out political shockwaves

Some members of the Libyan parliament and public vocally oppose the idea of Jews returning or participating in the country's peace process.

(L to R) Heba Yazbak, member and candidate for the Balad (National Democratic Alliance) party that is part of the Joint List alliance, applauds as Osama Saadi, member and candidate for the Arab Movement for Change (Taal) party raises his hands together with Balad party member and candidate Mtanes Shehadeh, Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality) party's chairman and candidate Ayman Odeh, Taal's leader and candidate Ahmad Tibi, Hadash's member and candidate Aida Touma, and the Islamic Movement's mem

Israel’s Gantz dismisses the Joint List, shooting self in foot, again

Blue and White head Benny Gantz has fallen into a trap set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by publicly rejecting the Arab Joint List.

Small Istanbul publisher sustains Armenian literature

Aras Publishing has spent nearly three decades publishing forgotten classics by Armenian writers in both Turkish and the at-risk Western Armenian language.

Why Lebanon's priests think marriage is better than celibacy

In Lebanon, Maronites, Greek Catholics, Armenian Catholics and Syrian Catholics widely accept — and even prefer — married priests.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yaffa Issachar, mother of Naama Issachar who is jailed in Russia on drug charges, and officials attend a meeting in Jerusalem, January 23, 2020. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC2MLE9IX6KG

What Israel gave to Russia in return for release of its national

In order to get Naama Issachar released from a prison in Moscow, Israel broke its rule of not interfering in real estate disputes related to churches in Jerusalem.

Russian Jews not Jewish enough for Israel's chief rabbi

In maligning immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef ignores that contrary to his ultra-Orthodox congregants, they contribute to Israel's economy and risk their lives serving in the military.

For many Gazans, it's another Christmas barred from Bethlehem

While most of Gaza's Christians submitted requests to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem, only a small number were granted access by Israel.

Should Jewish refugees from Arab countries be compensated?

An Israeli-government project estimates that Jews who fled Arab countries and immigrated to Israel left behind $150 billion in property, and the prime minister has been authorized by law to seek compensation for it in any peace deal.

Jewish museums in Istanbul focus on upside of integration

Jews have been living in Turkey for many centuries, and both the Sephardim from Spain and then Ashkenazim from Eastern Europe boast their own museums.

Avigdor Lieberman, head of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party delivers a statement at the Knesset, Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem November 20, 2019. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC2ZED9OQ503

Liberman spawns 'alliance of the underprivileged'

Attacks by Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman on Arab and ultra-Orthodox parties has pushed the two groups into a surprising alliance.

Ancient Kurdish festival offers taste of enduring love, mysticism

Mythology, mysticism and tributes to love dominate the Pir-Shalyar wedding festival in a rocky Kurdish village in western Iran.