Episode list

Dutch-raised Palestinian Kefah Allush starts his first journey along Middle Eastern minorities in a suburb of his native Nablus on the West Bank. Together with Tell Aviv, its the last native town of the Biblical people of Samaritans, at least 3600 years old and functioning as mediators between (Muslim or Christian) Arabs and Jews. Their high-priest, a post falling to the eldest male of the Cohen family, claims they once numbered 3,000,000, trough conversion, persecution and emigration down to 146 a century ago, now 'growing back' to over 700. their religion and culture are the original Abrahamic shoot, pre-dating Hebrew. To prevent extinction, girls are forbidden to marry an infidel, boys allowed to wed a Jew or recently Christian of Muslim if the wife and offspring convert, which even caused dozens of Ukrainian mail order-like brides. The hard to impose rules punish apostasy up to expulsion or in theory stoning, yet a shunned old men joining their Passover, the main festival, may be embraced again. Survival remains a question mark. .

In Iranian city Ahvaz, among the world's most polluted, Kefah Allush meets the small remaining community of Mandaeans, whose small religion claims the heritage of John the Baptist, apparently originating from the Holy land, but not Christian. Only a few thousand remain, dwindling further by emigration to the West (especially Texas), as the Islamic Republic discriminates non-Muslims, practically limiting their professional options to goldsmith. Over the centuries, the suffered much discrimination, even violent persecutions, so especially those (mainly seniors) wanting to stay are discrete, shy, all but outspoken. Their language, a form of Aramaic, survives almost only in choir songs. Intermarriage means exclusion, but few potential partners remains, so only some ten couples wed a year. Rituals are performed by priest in 'mandi' temples and rivers, as the main is repeated baptism, not just as initiation but also at festivals (main being the Baptist's birthday and his baptism) and when faithful feel a need for it. .

The Copts continue traditions of the Christian ages of (Roman and Byzantine) Egypt, which is now mostly Muslim. Kefah Allush first visits a wealthy Coptic businessman's Alexandria palace, yet hears he sent his children safely abroad since the Arab Spring's Tahir revolution. Egyptian authorities in principle protect the Christian minority, MPs even attend the Coptic Christmas, yet Muslim Brotherhood extremist even brave police and military protections to violently attack the Coptic churches, which bravely and stubbornly keep filling up, the threat even binds the community tighter. Many Coptic families live in ghetto squalor, stuck in dead-end jobs like garbage collection.

Kefah Allush visits the largest Druze community in a mountainous region of Lebanon. They are quite aloof, having suffered Christian and Muslim persecutions. Their very faith is a mystic secret, apart from some main elements and the guiding value of the Quran, only known to about a quarter of their population, the 'initiated', who live under strict, almost monastic rules, the majority is extremely liberal and well-integrated, especially on good terms with Islam, posing as a 'branch of it', but have no problem with marrying outsiders. Kefah Allush attends a funeral, which sounds very Muslim-like, and attends an audition of the 'prince' of the wealthy Jumblatt family, which dominates their political representation in the compartmentalized Lebanese system.

Dutch Palestinian journalist Kefah Allush meets an religious minority he never heard off before ISIS persecuted them. The Kurdic-language Yazidi or Yezidi people practice a monotheistic syncretism of mainly Judeo-christian, Muslim and Zoroastric (Ancient Persian dualistic) elements, erroneously dubbed 'devil worshipers' on account of it protector angels mythology. They live mainly in the sacred Sanjar mountains and other villages among Arab Syria. Its pirs (religious leaders) supposedly perform magical healing and maintain a lot of secrecy, contributing to mistrust from others, and over 70 historical pogroms.