The 88-year-old Holocaust survivor is participating in a new digital campaign called #CancelHate. It was launched Thursday by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference. It features videos of survivors from around the globe reading Holocaust denial posts from different social media platforms. Each post illustrates how denial and distortion can not only rewrite history but perpetuate antisemitic tropes and spread hate. (Grieshaber, AP News)
Read MoreThe House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday aimed at addressing reports of rising antisemitism on college campuses, where activists angered by Israel's war against Hamas have been protesting for months and more recently set up encampments on campus grounds. (Sprunt, NPR)
Read MoreAn independent watchdog on religious liberty has recommended Azerbaijan be listed among the State Department’s “countries of particular concern” that have committed the most egregious violations of religious freedom. In its annual report, issued Wednesday (May 1), the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom also urged the addition of Kyrgyzstan to the department’s second-tier “special watch list.” (Banks, Religion News Service)
Read MoreMazu, sometimes known as the Goddess of the Sea, is the most widely venerated of dozens of folk deities that many people in Taiwan turn to for solace, guidance and good fortune. The huge annual processions to honor her are noisy and gaudy. (Buckley & Chien, The New York Times)
Read MoreAcross the U.S., the Catholic Church is undergoing an immense shift. Generations of Catholics who embraced the modernizing tide sparked in the 1960s by Vatican II are increasingly giving way to religious conservatives who believe the church has been twisted by change, with the promise of eternal salvation replaced by guitar Masses, parish food pantries and casual indifference to church doctrine. (Sullivan, AP News)
Read MoreArizona is waving goodbye to a Civil War-era ban of nearly all abortions as a repeal bill reaches the desk of Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. Hobbs says the repeal, scheduled for signing on Thursday, is just the beginning of a fight to protect reproductive healthcare in Arizona. (Snow & Lee, AP News)
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