Ethnic/Religious Minorities

Jewish worshippers pray at Joseph's Tomb as hundreds of faithful mark the anniversary of the biblical Joseph's death, Nablus, West Bank, July 4, 2011.

Hundreds of Israeli pilgrims pray at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus

Joseph's Tomb in Nablus has often been the site of violent conflicts between Palestinians and Israelis.

An armed Israeli soldier watches nationalists gathered at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem on June 5, 2024, during the so-called Jerusalem Day flag march.

Ben-Gvir’s Temple Mount visit angers both Muslims, ultra-Orthodox

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to the Temple Mount on the fasting day of Tisha B’Av drew condemnation not only from the Muslim world but also the ultra-Orthodox community.

Women worshippers stand at the altar, they pray and tie knots in pieces of cloth that represent their wishes, during their visit to the new Yazidi Temple in the village of Aknalich, 35 kilometres from the Armenian capital Yerevan, on October 11, 2019.

Yazidis or Kurds? The fight over identity in Armenia and Iraq

A growing number of Yazidis insist they are not ethnic Kurds, part of an effort to construct a distinct identity in order to survive.

Former President of the French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) parliamentary group Marine Le Pen.

Analysis

What a far-right French government could look like

Jews and Muslims fear that a far-right win at the French parliamentarian elections on Sunday could damage their freedom of religious practice.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Latest News

Israeli demonstrations turn violent as ultra-Orthodox protest draft

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

French Jews, Muslims warn of far-right rise in upcoming elections

A woman wearing a hijab with a bouquet of flowers in her hand walks down a street in the Barbes district in Paris on June 25, 2023.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Poverty in Lebanon tripled to 44%, as high as 62% in rural areas: World Bank

Displaced Syrians walk through a makeshift camp for Syrian refugees only miles from the border with Syria in the Bekaa Valley on Nov. 12, 2013, in Majdal Anjar, Lebanon.

Three main disagreements constrain Turkey-Greece ties following Mitsotakis visit

TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP via Getty Images

Family of Christian Palestinian woman held in Israeli detention speaks out

An undated image of Layan Nasir.

Children fill a bucket with water from a pipe in the southern Sudanese city of Gedaref on April 21, 2024. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Sudan war rages amid reports of ethnic cleansing, children 'piled up and shot'

The Sudanese army and rival paramilitary forces have engaged in heavy battles in el-Fasher, in the Darfur region, amid fears that a full-scale attack on the city will lead to abuse and violations against civilians, as has happened elsewhere in the region.

TOPSHOT - Migrants walk in the sea to board a smuggler's boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel, on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on April 26, 2024. Five migrants, including a seven-year-old girl, died on April 23, 2024 trying to cross the Channel from France to Britain, local authorities said, just hours after Britain passed a controversial bill to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP) (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images)

Cyprus is favored route for thousands of Syrian migrants escaping Lebanon

Nearly 60 times as many people, mostly Syrians, are leaving Lebanon by boats en route to Europe when compared with last year — a number expected rise in the next few months during peak migration season.

Israeli soldiers of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion hold morning prayers as they take part in their annual unit training in the Israeli annexed Golan Heights, near the Syrian border, May 19, 2014.

Analysis

Inside Netzah Yehuda Battalion, Israel’s army unit bracing for US sanctions

In an unprecedented move, the Biden administration is set to sanction the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, which is accused of violating the human rights of West Bank Palestinians.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

In divided Cyprus, century-old bookshop brings people together

Located in Europe's last divided city, a bookshop in Nicosia, Cyprus, has been weathering volatility since its inception in 1937.

Bishop Emmanuel

What we know about stabbing of Assyrian bishop in Australia

A suspect was detained after allegedly stabbing Mar Mari Emmanuel at Christ the Good Shepherd Church west of Sydney, though the motive is not yet known.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Louis Raphael I Sako of Iraq poses as he attends the courtesy visit of relatives following a consistory for the creation of new cardinals in the Apostolic Palace at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on June 28, 2018.

Iraq’s Sudani hosts Chaldean Patriarch in Baghdad following dispute

Patriarch Louis Sako moved from Baghdad to Erbil last year after the state revoked a decree recognizing him as head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, a move related to a dispute with the pro-Iran militia Babylon.

Ultra Orthodox Jewish youths block a road in Bnei Brak as they protest against their conscription into the Israeli armed forces, on April 1, 2024.

Analysis

Row in Israel over ultra-Orthodox draft threatens Netanyahu’s government

Ultra-Orthodox leaders are threatening to topple the government should the IDF start recruiting yeshiva students to serve in the army.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Getty

Analysis

How Israel’s far right is courting European populist, nationalist parties

Nationalist Israeli politicians have been reaching out to conservative and populist parties in Europe since Oct. 7.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Palestinians walk past the Dome of the Rock at the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem on Feb. 20, 2024.

What to expect at Al-Aqsa during upcoming Ramadan

Despite calls by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to limit the entry of Muslim worshipers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to allow a similar number of Palestinian worshippers as in previous years to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the month of Ramadan.

Supporters hold a poster depicting Malis interim leader and head of Junta, Colonel Assimi Goïta (L) and Guinea Interim leader and head of Junta, Mamady Doumbouya (R), in Bamako, Mali, on September 22, 2022 during Mali's Independence Day military parade. (Photo by OUSMANE MAKAVELI / AFP) (Photo by OUSMANE MAKAVELI/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

As Mali’s junta pokes at Algeria, what’s at stake for North Africa and Sahel?

Three years after severing its ties with Morocco, Algeria faces challenges in its relations with Mali and other Sahel countries.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 24: Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves 10, Downing Street after meeting Britain's Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, on March 24, 2023 in London, England. Benjamin Netanyahu visits London against a backdrop of unrest at home. Protest are being held weekly across Israel against legislation neing pushed through the Knesset by his government to restain the judiciary. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Analysis

Can't count him out: Netanyahu, allies score big in Israel's municipal elections

Despite the Likud's plunge in the polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party preserved most of its power in this week's municipal elections.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

AFP via Getty Images

UN accuses Sudan’s RSF of rape, ethnic killings as Hemedti courts region

A new UN report has documented the shocking brutality of the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo in Sudan’s Darfur region.