The University of California at Los Angeles blocked Jewish students from portions of campus when protests erupted in response to the Israel-Hamas War, a district judge has ruled, citing their faith as the sole factor.
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Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned Wednesday, bowing to pressure from university faculty and students and public officials who widely criticized her handling of pro-Palestinian campus protests last school year.
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In a move widely seen as a major blow to religious freedom, the government of Rwanda has closed more than 4,000 houses of worship over the past month for various infractions that include operating in substandard structures, “unhygienic conditions,” not meeting noise pollution standards and not having formally trained preachers.
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(EXPLAINER) Riots have erupted across the United Kingdom over the past week as far-right groups launched attacks against hotels housing asylum seekers and mosques. A heavy security presence on Wednesday and a series of arrests across Britain has prevented a repeat of widespread rioting involving racist attacks targeting Muslims and other migrants that started late last month.
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(OPINION) There is no question that the nation of Israel could be facing an unprecedented attack coming from all sides: Iran from the east, Hezbollah from the north, the Houthis from the south, and Hamas (what is left of it) from the west. In fact, by the time you read this article, that attack may have already been launched. But is Israel on the verge of an apocalyptic war prophesied in the Bible? In my view, the answer is clearly no.
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In her bid to be the nation’s first female president, Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, thrusting the outspoken Minnesota Lutheran into the national spotlight. Walz, 60, brings political experience as well as suburban-and-rural appeal to the presidential race.
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Equatorial Guinea has a history of infringing on religious freedom dating back to the 1950s. The country is at it again using legislation to forcefully close numerous churches and deny thousands the freedom to worship. Six Pentecostal and evangelical churches were shut down by the government last year alone due to their failure to abide by registration regulations.
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(ANALYSIS) On July 11, 2024, the Argentine Federal Court of Criminal Cassation handed down its decision in a case concerning the issue of Uyghur genocide ordering the prosecutor to open an investigation. The decision follows a criminal complaint setting out the international crimes committed against the Uyghur and other Turkic people in Xinjiang, China, and the identity of those most responsible for these crimes.
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(ANALYSIS) Sadly, France has barred its athletes from wearing a hijab while taking part in the Paris-based Olympic and Para-Olympic games. In so doing it continues its radical campaign to ban religion from anything other than the most private matters. This ban does not apply to athletes from other countries, and many women participants from the Muslim world will have still their heads covered, even though their own country, unlike France, might not require it.
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Despite endless efforts to unite Muslims, the UMSC has continued to grapple with political interference and internal power struggles. In the years following the overthrow of Amin, the UMSC faced intense persecution and violence with many senior leaders who had supported Amin going into hiding or fleeing into exile. The roots of these internal conflicts trace back to the very foundation of UMSC.
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The Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage gives a major push for reconciliation between Hindus from the rest of India and Muslims in Kashmir, acting as a catalyst for bringing together communities divided by violence. The holy cave was discovered by a Muslim devoted to Lord Shiva, a deity in the Hindu trinity. Despite the government’s intervention, the pilgrimage has brought people together.
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(REVIEW) Is subjugation and oppression central to the life of a Muslim woman? What roles do Islamophobia and white supremacy have in this misogyny? And where do the biggest threats to Muslim women’s freedom and safety really come from? These are some of the many pertinent questions that Samia Rahman answers in her new book, “Muslim Women and Misogyny: Myths and Misunderstandings.”
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The theme of the conference, which took place at the school’s campus in South Bend, Indiana, was “Depolarizing Religious Liberty,” which still depends too much on one's race, faith or nationality. The highlight of the summit was an awards program and gala where the Religious Liberty Clinic was named after Lindsay and Matt Morun, who have supported such efforts financially since its inception.
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Human Rights Watch issued a report Wednesday detailing war crimes and other violence committed by Palestinian armed groups against Israeli civilians during the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel. The document, titled “I Can’t Erase All the Blood from My Mind,” reached several notable conclusions, including that Palestinian civilians were not responsible for major atrocities during the attack.
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(ANALYSIS) On June 26, Trial Chamber X of the International Criminal Court (ICC), by a majority, convicted Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud (Al Hassan), a Malian Islamist militant, of some of the charges brought against him of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between April 2, 2012, and Jan. 29, 2013.
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(ANALYSIS) I am in Iran. The president has died. And they think I did it. Or at least that is what it felt like on the evening of May 20, when news came that Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter was forced to make a “hard landing” in the rugged mountains near Tabriz.
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Indonesia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi officially opened on Wednesday the two-day International Conference on Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy aimed at encouraging dialogue between different faith traditions. The conference hopes to strengthen the country’s respect for religious pluralism, while also addressing a variety of topics for reaching out to other faiths through education programs and human rights legislation.
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The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas is having reverberations across the globe. This was the case during last week’s elections in the United Kingdom. While the headlines heralded the Labour‘s landslide victory, some of the party’s losses resulted in gains for independent candidates who made Gaza a major campaign issue.
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The government of Uganda officially recognized the Muslim martyrs who were killed on the orders of a local king starting in 1874 — and allocated $52,926 to organize this year’s Muslim Martyrs’ Day commemorations. This is the first time Muslims in Uganda organized an official commemoration for the Muslim martyrs. In the past, only Catholics and Anglicans participated in official celebrations.
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Millions continue to suffer religious persecution globally, with wars and civil conflicts exacerbating already existing ills in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the U.S. State Department documented in its 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom. The report attempts to present an overview of persecution by governments, extremists and members of society, relying on information from government officials, religious groups, nongovernmental organizations, journalists, human rights monitors, academia and the media.
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