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religious minorities
Interior of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, consecrated in 1675. The sanctuary, still without electricity, is lit by 1,000 candles for special occasions, January 2018 (Matt Lebovic/The Times of Israel)
March 25, 2018, 4:03 am
Why Amsterdam’s beloved nickname is a centuries-old Yiddish word, ‘Mokum’
Recalling a golden age for the Netherlands and Dutch Jewry, on today's streets of Amsterdam, mamaloshen still peppers local slang
By Matt Lebovic
Iraqi Kurdistan Jewish representative Sherzad Mamsani speaks at a Holocaust Memorial Day event on May 5, 2016. (Judit Neurink/Times of Israel)
March 18, 2018, 3:04 pm
Kurdish ministry denies it sacked Jewish representative to appease Iraq
Religious affairs ministry says firing of community representative Sherzad Mamsani was 'purely administrative', post to be refilled once right candidate is found
By TOI staff
The Al-Azhar Primary School in a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden. (YouTube screenshot)
March 14, 2018, 9:56 am
Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats vow to ban religious schools
Senior lawmaker opposes 'school segregation'; Sweden's only Jewish school not seen in danger, however, with pledge seen as election talk
By AFP
A member of Algeria's small Ahmadi community sits at a house in Tilpasi, west of Algiers, near a photo of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement, on June 30, 2017. (AFP Photo/Ryad Kramdi)
August 25, 2017, 8:05 am
Algeria’s Ahmadis, an ‘Israeli plot,’ forced to worship behind closed doors
Pacifist Muslim sect, which operates freely in Israel, is accused by Algerian government minister of working with Israel to destabilize country
By Amal Belalloufi
Likud MK Benny Begin speaks during a vote on the so-called Regulation Bill, controversial legislation that seeks to legitimize illegal West Bank outposts, in the Knesset on December 7, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 26, 2017, 6:58 pm
Begin breaks ranks to oppose Jewish nation-state bill
Legislation must openly say it will safeguard the rights of minorities, insists maverick Likud lawmaker
By Marissa Newman
French President Emmanuel Macron walks past Helmut Kohl's coffin during a eulogy ceremony for former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, July 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
July 3, 2017, 2:45 pm
French nationalist charged with threatening to kill Macron, Jews
Suspect told police of possible plan to attack president on Bastille Day, also wanted to target 'Muslims, Jews, blacks, homosexuals'
By AFP
Pope Francis speaks to believers as he leaves the Porziuncola (Portiuncula) at Santa Maria degli Angeli Basilica, near Assisi, August 4, 2016, during a private visit to mark the 800th anniversary of the 'Pardon of Assisi,' in which the slates of sinners can be wiped clean. (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP)
September 20, 2016, 3:34 pm
There is ‘no God of war,’ pope tells faith leaders, war victims
World Day of Prayer for Peace unites 500 religious representatives in talks and prayers to combat religious violence and persecution
By Catherine MARCIANO
Karaite Jews pray during the holiday of 'Simchat Beit Hashoeva' in the La'Alub synagogue in Meah Shearim on October 18, 2011. (Uri Lenz/Flash90)
January 28, 2016, 4:40 pm
Karaite Jews unanimously re-elect chief rabbi
Movement has approximately 40,000 followers, who follow only Torah laws and reject oral traditions like the Mishnah and Talmud
By Melanie Lidman
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during the Sunshine Summit conference being held at the Rosen Shingle Creek, November 13, 2015 Orlando, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP)
December 10, 2015, 2:27 am
Republicans struggle with Trump fallout
Even as he alienates minorities and mainstream voters, maverick billionaire threatens to split conservatives in 2016 race
By Andrew BEATTY
A Chinese Muslim man offers prayers on the first day of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, at a mosque in Beijing on June 18, 2015. (AFP/Greg Baker)
June 18, 2015, 3:00 pm
China restricts Muslim fasting during Ramadan
Authorities cite terror threat in bid to limit religious practices of the holy month in Xinjiang region
By AFP
Edirne's abandoned Great Synagogue reopens (screen capture: YouTube)
March 26, 2015, 10:30 pm
Turkey reopens restored Ottoman-era synagogue
Authorities insist restoration a sign of tolerance toward Jewish community, amid wave of anti-Israel sentiment
By AFP
A Druze family stands silent during a Memorial Day ceremony at the military cemetery of Ussefiya on Mount Carmel, April 2010 (photo credit: Matanya Tausig/Flash90)
May 15, 2014, 1:31 pm
From Israel’s most loyal minority, draft objectors emerge
Stop trampling our religious sensibilities and treating us like a herd, Druze activists demand, fed up with state discrimination
By Elhanan Miller
Singers (from left) Joachim Nahmani, Sacha Ouazana, Haim Fedida and Mony Abergel chant bakashot, a type of Sephardic religious poetry, at an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, on March 29, 2014. (photo credit: Talia Bloch/JTA)
May 9, 2014, 4:40 am
Young Sephardic Jews embrace an old musical tradition
New classes are springing up from NY to LA with the melodic mission of bringing back 'bakashot'
By Talia Bloch
Convicted ex-MK Said Nafa (screen capture: YouTube)
April 6, 2014, 1:26 pm
Ex-Balad party MK convicted of security crimes
Druze former parliamentarian Said Nafa traveled to Syria in 2007, met with member of terror group
By Lazar Berman
April 27, 2013, 3:31 am
Monastery loses 7-year court battle over Israeli security fence
Expanded West Bank barrier would surround convent on 3 sides and cut it off from most of its land, Catholic group says
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