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religious freedom

US students work under Ten Commandments and Bill of Rights posters on display in a classroom at Lehman High School in Kyle, Texas on October 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
April 22, 2026, 9:18 am
Texas can require Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms, US court rules
American conservatives laud victory for ‘moral values’ as ruling signals boost to similar legislation in other red states; law’s challengers plan to take case to Supreme Court
By Agencies
A Muslim woman holds a sign as Syrians hold a silent sit-in, called for by civil society, Christians, and shop owners affected by an official decision banning the sale of alcoholic beverages except in specific locations, in Bab Touma in Damascus on March 22, 2026. (Louai Beshara/AFP)
March 23, 2026, 1:17 am
Syrians rally against new law restricting sale of alcohol in Damascus
Hundreds of people from multiple religious sects protest move they warn will lead to a loss of personal liberties and put an additional target on minorities
By OMAR SANADIKI
Sameerah Munshi, a former advisory member of US President Trump’s Religious Liberties Commission, addresses the Parental Power Summit, June 12, 2024. (Screenshot via YouTube)
March 14, 2026, 7:57 am
Muslim adviser quits Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, citing ‘Zionist’ agenda
Sameerah Munshi says her resignation is in protest of ousting of commissioner who used hearing on antisemitism last month to voice opposition to Zionism and Israel
By Andrew Lapin
Carrie Prejean Boller speaks during the White House Religious Liberty Commission public hearing on February 9, 2026. (Screenshot via JTA)
February 11, 2026, 11:30 pm
Former Miss California ousted from White House commission following antisemitism row
Carrie Prejean Boller initially refused to step down from religious liberty advisory body after derailing a panel on Jew-hatred with repeated claims anti-Zionism isn’t antisemitic
By Grace Gilson
A before and after photo depicting how a painting of Jesus at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, had been obscured by a curtain. (Before: U.S. Coast Guard; After: U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.)
July 18, 2025, 1:22 am
US transit secretary grilled for rehanging Jesus painting at Merchant Marine Academy
Entitled ‘Christ on the Water,’ painting had been moved to the academy’s chapel following a complaint from Jewish midshipmen
By Ron Kampeas
This undated photo shows Arkansas inmate Gregory Holt, also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad. (Arkansas Department of Correction)
July 12, 2025, 10:08 am
US Muslim inmate who won beard case claims retaliatory transfer by Arkansas officials
Gregory Holt, also known as Abdul Maalik Muhammad, was supported by Orthodox Jewish and other groups in 2015 Supreme Court case that upheld his right to maintain half-inch beard
By Andrew DeMillo
A sign outside the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington DC, United States, on May 28, 2025. (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
July 8, 2025, 5:52 pm
Reversing decades-old ban, US tax agency says clergy may endorse political candidates
IRS reverses policy while settling lawsuit brought by two churches, Christian broadcasting network, that sought to undo endorsement ban for all nonprofit entities
By PHILISSA CRAMER
People shop at the BIG Fashion Mall in Glilot, central Israel, March 4, 2025 (Tal Gal/Flash90)
April 2, 2025, 6:54 pm
Tel Aviv suburb says it’ll defy order to shut new mall on Shabbat amid Haredi threats
Ultra-Orthodox vow boycott of all chains operating in new BIG fashion mall in Ramat Hasharon if it opens on Jewish rest day; Lapid: ‘Stop interfering in lives of secular people’
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
An Iranian Jewish man prays at the Molla Agha Baba Synagogue in the city of Yazd, 420 miles south of capital Tehran, Iran, November 20, 2014. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
March 7, 2025, 9:04 pm
Trump’s refugee ban is keeping 700 persecuted Iranian Jews out of the US
The US president has signed an order indefinitely halting the admission of refugees – including applicants for a special program for members of religious minority groups in Iran
By Asaf Elia-Shalev
Vicky and Eilam Sher on their wedding day in 2020. They held a private ceremony not recognized by the State of Israel. (Courtesy)
February 21, 2025, 9:01 am
Avoiding the Rabbinate, 3,000 Israeli couples married last year in Utah’s ‘Zoom weddings’
New report by group promoting religious freedom says 67% of Israeli public supports recognizing all types of marriages in Israel, including civil, Reform and Conservative
By Rossella Tercatin
Iranians wave a national flag as they celebrate a Gaza ceasefire deal, during a rally after the Friday noon prayers in Tehran on January 17, 2025. Israel's security cabinet met on January 17 to vote on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that would go into effect on January 19, 2025. (AFP)
January 22, 2025, 11:40 pm
Iran reportedly arrests 10 Bahai women in ‘shocking’ raids
Bahai organization calls arrests part of Tehran’s ‘escalating campaign of persecution’ against members of the religion, including ‘systematic targeting of women’
By AFP
A woman holding a rifle borrowed from a Syrian opposition fighter poses for a picture, next to a government forces tank that was left on a street, at the Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syria, December 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
December 13, 2024, 8:50 am
What Matters Now to Ksenia Svetlova: Women are the canary in the Mideast coal mine
As the rebel factions in Syria continue to fight to wrest control, the world looks at their treatment of women. Middle East analyst, a former MK, ranks Israel and its neighbors
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Ksenia Svetlova
Secular and Orthodox activists clash after the religious Rosh Yehudi group sets up a gender divider made of Israeli flags in defiance of a municipality decision at a public prayer service in Dizengoff Square, Tel Aviv on Yom Kippur, September 24, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash 90)
October 10, 2024, 2:16 pm
Despite winning court battle, group cancels outdoor Yom Kippur prayers in Tel Aviv
Citing concern of saboteurs disrupting gender-separated services even after court confirmed their legality, Rosh Yehudi says they’ll be held inside to keep the peace
By Mati Wagner
Rabbi Abraham Cooper attends the morning prayers at the Bahrain synagogue, June 25, 2019. (Raphael Ahren/TOI)
March 12, 2024, 10:48 pm
Riyadh says demand that US delegation chair remove kippah an ‘unfortunate incident’
Saudi Embassy in DC says request was made of Rabbi Abraham Cooper, chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, due to ‘misunderstanding of internal protocols’
By Jacob Magid and AFP
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, center, of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, speaks in front of civic and faith leaders outside City Hall, May 20, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
March 12, 2024, 3:02 am
US government delegation cuts short Saudi trip after rabbi is asked to remove kippah
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, who chairs the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, says ‘no one should be denied access to a heritage site… simply for existing as a Jew’
By AFP
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