AL-MONITOR Staff - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

AL-MONITOR Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

A protester stands against Turkish soldiers during clashes near Silivri, where a hearing on people charged with attempting to overthrow Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government is due to take place August 5, 2013. A Turkish court on Monday sentenced a former military commander to life in prison and dozens of others including opposition members of parliament to long terms for plotting against the government, in a case that has exposed deep divisions in the country. Retired military chief of

Sibel Utku Bila on why she writes

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY OR DEATH

An injured member of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporter of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi is carried by members of the riot police and the army after they cleared Rabaa Adawiya square area, where the Pro-Mursi supporters are camping, in Cairo August 14, 2013. Egyptian security forces killed at least 30 people on Wednesday when they cleared a camp of Cairo protesters who were demanding the reinstatement of Mursi, his Muslim Brother

Enas Hamed on why she writes

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

The residents of Sarajevo take cover from sniper fire behind a United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) armoured vehicle in this 1993 file photo. Genocide, siege and massacre are for many people in Bosnia more than just words on Radovan Karadzic's indictment. They represent years of suffering, dead friends and nightmares that will always haunt them. To match feature WARCRIMES-KARADZIC/LEGACY REUTERS/Danilo Krstanovic/Files (BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA) - RTR20HI6

Riada Asimovic Akyol on why she writes

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

A Turkish riot policeman uses tear gas as people protest against the destruction of trees in a park brought about by a pedestrian project, in Taksim Square in central Istanbul in this May 28, 2013 file photo.

Osman Orsal: I was covering protests in Istanbul which began as a demonstration against government plans to demolish a small park in central Taksim square but evolved into one the biggest anti-government protests in over a decade.

I was standing between the protesters and the police as the police b

Amberin Zaman on why she writes

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the UN, speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in Yemen.

Qatar’s UN ambassador looks to break barriers

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

A Palestinian woman, hoping to cross into Egypt, holds her son as they wait with others at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip August 12, 2014. Under Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Cairo has secured closures on the Gaza border, increasing economic pressure on Hamas from a long-running Israeli blockade. Talks to end a month-long war between Israel and Islamist militants in Gaza have made no progress so far, an Israeli official said on Tuesday, as a 72-hour ceasefire in the

Asmaa al-Ghoul on why she writes

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

Palestinian women walk in an alley in Shatila refugee camp near Beirut May 23, 2007. The Lebanese army is trying to crush Fatah al-Islam, a militant group led by a Palestinian but with little or no support among Lebanon's Palestinian refugee population of 400,000. Dozens of people have died in three days of fighting. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON) - RTR1Q072

Florence Massena on why she writes

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

A woman looks on as she sits amongst displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, who are sleeping on the ground at Bajed Kadal refugee camp, southwest of Dohuk province August 23, 2014. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR43FCQ

Maya Gebeily on why she writes

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

Palestinian boy Mohammed Wahdan, whom medics said was wounded in Israeli shelling, is held by his aunt as he receives psychological care at Shifa hospital in Gaza City August 14, 2014. In a ward at Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, child therapist Rabeea Hamouda is trying to elicit a response from two small brothers, Omar and Mohammed, aged three and 18 months, hoping for some words or perhaps a smile. For seven straight minutes the children, peppered with burns and shrapnel wounds sustained in Israeli shelli

Rasha Abou Jalal on why she writes

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

Lebanese news photographers work during a protest against the forced closure of media institutions on Friday by Hezbollah gunmen and its allies in Beirut May 10, 2008. The Shi'ite movement Hezbollah tightened its control of the Lebanese capital on Saturday in a show of force after it routed gunmen loyal to the western-backed government. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON) - RTX5JNR

Mona Alami on why she writes

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

Have you considered an online degree?

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff

Palestinian students attend their graduation ceremony at the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza City September 10, 2014. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: EDUCATION) - RTR45QL9

Is a women’s college right for you?

AL-MONITOR Staff

AL-MONITOR Staff