Showing posts with label Jewish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jewish. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

USCIRF Ends Saudi Visit After Its Jewish Chairman Was Told to Remove His Kippah in Public Places

In a press release issued Monday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said that last week it ended an official visit to Saudi Arabia early after the delegation was told to leave the Diriyah UNESCO World Heritage Site in Riyadh because USCIRF Chairman Rabbi Abraham Cooper would not remove his kippah (head covering). The press release says in part:

The Saudi government had invited the delegation, led by Chair Cooper and Vice Chair Reverend Frederick A. Davie, to tour the site on March 5, as part of their official visit to the country that had started on March 3. After several delays to the tour, officials requested that Cooper, an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, remove his kippah while at the site and anytime he was to be in public, even though the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs had approved the site visit. U.S. Embassy staff accompanying the USCIRF delegation supported and conveyed to Saudi officials Chair Cooper’s polite but resolute refusal to remove the kippah. Despite their efforts, site officials escorted the delegation off the premises after Chair Cooper indicated he sought no confrontation or provocation but as an observant Jew could not comply with a request to remove his kippah.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C. issued a statement (full text) saying in part:

This unfortunate incident was the result of a misunderstanding of internal protocols.... We look forward to welcoming him back to the Kingdom.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Orthodox Jewish Passengers Sue JetBlue For Discrimination

Suit was filed late last month in a New York federal district court against JetBlue Airways by three observant Jewish passengers who were forced off of a flight by airline personnel after one of the passengers, an Orthodox Jewish man, asked other passengers to switch seats with him so, consistent with his religious beliefs, he would not be sitting next to a woman who was not his wife or a blood relative. The complaint (full text) in Ungar v. JetBlue Airways Corp., (SD NY, filed 2/27/2024), alleges in part:

48. ... At no time while Mr. Lunger was trying to observe his religious beliefs, did he force, become loud, or use a stern voice to intimidate any other passengers into changing seats with him.  

49. Even though Mr. Lunger had figured out a way to observe his religious beliefs without interfering with the flight, Defendant Doe [the flight attendant] discriminated against Mr. Lunger because of his race and his religion.

50. Defendant Doe brought the JetBlue pilot to the back of the plane.

51.  The JetBlue pilot falsely told the Plaintiffs that they could not change seats because it was a violation and it would cause a weight imbalance.... 

Plaintiffs claim they suffered discrimination and retaliation on the basis of religion and race in violation of 42 USC §1981 and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act. Live and Let's Fly reports on the lawsuit.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

New Report on Antisemitism in America Released

Last week, the American Jewish Committee released its report The State of Antisemitism in America 2023. The Report includes a Survey of American Jews, a Survey of the General Public, a Comparison of the Attitudes of the two groups, and a Methodology Report. AJC CEO Ted Deutch, commenting on the Report, said in part:

With nearly half of American Jews reporting they changed their behavior in the past year because of fear of antisemitism, we need to take action – now. AJC’s report also found that over the last year, 4 in 10 Jewish college students have felt the consequences of antisemitism, with one-in-five saying they have been excluded from a group or event because they are Jewish. This should alarm everyone especially with the dramatic increase of antisemitic activity on college campuses that has continued into 2024.

[Thanks to Burt Shifman for the lead.]

Friday, February 16, 2024

Hawaii Chabad Rabbi Sues Over Zoning Law

Suit was filed this week in a Hawaii federal district court by a Chabad rabbi contending that Hawaii County's residential zoning Code violates the First Amendment, the Hawaii Constitution and RLUIPA. The complaint (full text) in Chabad Jewish Center of the Big Island v. County of Hawaii, (D HI, filed 2/13/2024), alleges in part:

 Hawai‘i County Code § 25-5-3(a)(9) allows “[m]eeting facilities” to operate “in [a] RS district” sans any restriction.  Conversely, Hawai‘i County Code § 25-2-61(b)(3) permits “[c]hurches, temples and synagogues” to operate in a RS district “only if a use permit is obtained for use.”  And, critically, use permits are required not only for “[c]hurches, temples and synagogues” themselves but also for the “meeting facilities for churches, temples, synagogues and other such institutions[] in RS . . . districts.” ...  In other words, in residential use districts in Hawai‘i County, meeting facilities are permissible so long as they’re secular....

It is the County’s policy and practice to prosecute supposed violations of Hawai‘i County Code § 25-2-61 only when the violating party hosts Jewish gatherings.  The County’s enforcement decisions are neither neutral nor generally applicable, as other religious and non-religious meetings of comparable size have occurred unmolested in the zoning district of Rabbi Gerlitzky’s home.  The County’s policy of selective enforcement against the Plaintiffs, if left unchecked, will effectively shutter one of the now only two orthodox Jewish gathering spaces on the Big Island.  This policy is enabled by the County’s practice of ratcheting up recurring fines against the Plaintiffs.

First Liberty Institute issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.

Sunday, February 04, 2024

New Jersey Man Pleads Guilty to Hate Crimes Against 5 Orthodox Jews

In a Feb. 1 press release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the district of New Jersey announced that 29-year old Dion Marsh has pleaded guilty to violations of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and to a count of carjacking for his assault on 5 men on April 8, 2022.  According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney:

This defendant violently attacked five men, driving a car into four of them, stabbing one of them in the chest, and attempting to kill them, simply because they were visibly identifiable as Orthodox Jews....

Sentencing is set for June 11.

Friday, January 26, 2024

President Issues Statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today President Biden issued a Statement (full text) calling attention to International Holocaust Remembrance Day which occurs tomorrow (the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp by Soviet armed forces). The Statement reads in part:

Tomorrow ... we join nations around the world and pause to mourn one of the darkest chapters in human history, when six million Jews were systematically targeted and murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators in the Holocaust during the 1930s and 1940s. We also grieve the Roma, Sinti, Slavs, people with disabilities, LGBTQI+ individuals, racial minorities, and political dissidents who were abused or killed. And we honor the courage of survivors and the heroism of people who bravely stood up to the Nazis, risking everything to save innocent lives.

This year, the charge to remember the Holocaust, the evil of the Nazis, and the scourge of antisemitism is more pressing than ever. On October 7 Hamas terrorists unleashed pure, unadulterated evil on the people of Israel....

In the aftermath of Hamas’s vicious massacre, we have witnessed an alarming rise of despicable antisemitism at home and abroad that has surfaced painful scars from millennia of hate and genocide of Jewish people. It is unacceptable. We cannot remember all that Jewish survivors of the Holocaust experienced and then stand silently by when Jews are attacked and targeted again today. Without equivocation or exception, we must also forcefully push back against attempts to ignore, deny, distort, and revise history. This includes Holocaust denialism and efforts to minimize the horrors that Hamas perpetrated on October 7, especially its appalling and unforgiveable use of rape and sexual violence to terrorize victims.

Friday, January 12, 2024

11th Circuit: Transit Agency's Policy Barring Religious Ads Violates Free Speech Protections

In Young Israel of Tampa, Inc. v. Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, (11th Cir., Jan. 10, 2024), the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held unconstitutional a public transit agency's policy on the sale of advertising space on its vehicles and property.  While selling advertising space, the agency prohibited ads that "primarily promote a religious faith or religious organization." Applying this policy, the transit agency rejected an ad from plaintiff promoting a "Chanukah on Ice" event. The court concluded that the policy violates plaintiff's free speech rights, saying in part:

Though the analysis would not change one way or another, we’ll assume, without deciding, that the HART vehicles and property at issue here are nonpublic forums as opposed to limited public forums. Even so, when the government restricts speech in nonpublic forums, it “must avoid the haphazard and arbitrary enforcement of speech restrictions in order for them to be upheld as reasonable.”...

Given the inherent ambiguity of the word “religious,” the uncertainty and potential breadth of the term “primarily promote,” and the lack of any definitions, we agree with the district court that the policy fails to provide any objective or workable standards. The policy therefore fails under [the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Minnesota Voters Alliance v.] Mansky....

Judge Newsom filed a concurring opinion, saying in part:

I'm not sure that any religious-speech restriction could survive a reasonableness inquiry under Mansky—because I’m not sure that any policymaker could define or identify “religious” speech using “objective, workable standards.”

Judge Grimberg filed a concurring opinion, saying in part:

By constructing a policy that is so clearly and completely incapable of reasonable application, HART has successfully evaded a ruling on the viewpoint-versus-subject-matter dispute that is at the heart of this case. And that evaded ruling, in my view, has long been settled by the Supreme Court’s “trilogy” of cases....

Where the same advertisement, with the same content is welcomed when references to religion are removed and replaced with secular ones, I see no way around concluding ... that the public transportation system engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.

See prior related posting.

Thursday, January 11, 2024

9 Arrested In New York During Conflict Between Chabad Factions Over Secret Tunnel

In Brooklyn on Monday, nine people were arrested on charges of criminal mischief and reckless endangerment and three others were issued summonses for disorderly conduct after factional chaos broke out at Chabad's headquarters, known as 770.  As described by NBC New York:

A historic Brooklyn synagogue that serves as the center of an influential Hasidic Jewish movement was trashed this week during an unusual community dispute that began with the discovery of a secret underground tunnel and ended in a brawl between worshippers and police.

The conflict erupted in the global headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Crown Heights, a deeply revered Jewish site that each year receives thousands of visitors, including international students and religious leaders....

But on Tuesday, the synagogue remained closed off by police barricades as New York City building safety agents inspected whether a tunnel dug without official permission may have caused structural damage to the famed property.

Officials and locals said young men in the community recently built the passage to the sanctuary in secret. When the group’s leaders tried to seal it off Monday, they staged a protest that turned violent as police moved in to make arrests....

Those who supported the tunnel, meanwhile, said they were carrying out an “expansion” plan long envisioned by the former head of the Chabad movement, Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson...

The Forward has additional background.

Tuesday, January 09, 2024

Art Institute School Sued for Antisemitic Discrimination and Hostility

Three weeks ago, suit was filed in an Illinois federal district court against the School of the Art Institute of Chicago by a Jewish Israeli student claiming a long-running pattern of discrimination and hostility at the school toward Jews and Israelis. The complaint (full text) in Canel v. School of the Art Institute of Chicago, (ND IL, filed 12/22/2-23), alleges discrimination against plaintiff in the admissions process and increasing harassment by faculty and students since the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel. Also named as a defendant was one Art Therapy faculty member who has taken a leading role in facilitating anti-Israel actions aimed at plaintiff. The complaint alleges violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act the Illinois Human Rights Act and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, as well as breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jewish News Service reports on the lawsuit.

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

2nd Circuit: 1st Amendment Free Exercise Claim Requires Only "Burden", Not "Substantial Burden" On Religion

In Kravitz v. Purcell, (2d Cir., Nov. 27, 2023), the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals held that unlike suits under RFRA, an inmate alleging a 1st Amendment violation of his religious freedom need not show a "substantial burden" on his sincere religious beliefs, but only a "burden." The suit was brought by an inmate whose observance of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot was impaired by harassment of prison correctional officers. As described by the court:

The admissible evidence shows that Kravitz was unable to observe his religious holiday due to the abusive conduct of corrections officers. On the first night, corrections officers obstructed all communal prayer and threw paper bags at the inmates, “laughing and say[ing], here is your kosher meal. You Jew, blah, blah, and F-U.” ... On the second night, an officer interrupted Kravitz’s prayer after approximately thirty seconds, stating, “I don’t want to hear that. You need to stop and get eating that food. I got things to do.” ... 

In vacating the district court's grant of summary judgment, the court said in part:

When we are considering government policies that are not neutral and generally applicable—that is, policies that discriminate against religion rather than burden it incidentally—there is no justification for requiring a plaintiff to make a threshold showing of substantial burden. “The indignity of being singled out for special burdens on the basis of one’s religious calling is so profound that the concrete harm produced can never be dismissed as insubstantial...." 

... The district court erred in deciding that the burden on Kravitz’s observance was insufficient to establish an infringement of his right to free exercise under the First Amendment. The district court could reach that conclusion only by deciding that thirty seconds of prayer or a blessing over bread suffices for Shavuot observance. But what the observance of Shavuot entails is beyond the competence of a federal court.

Kapparot Protesters Lose Suit Against City

In Karlan v. City of Los Angeles, (CA App., Nov. 27, 2023), a California state appellate court affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by protesters who objected to an Orthodox synagogue's pre-Yom Kippur kapparot ritual in which chickens are killed and their carcasses are discarded.  According to the court:

The complaint alleged the City abused its discretion and endorsed the exercise of religion by refusing to enforce Penal Code section 597, which prohibits the intentional and malicious killing of animals, against Kapparot practitioners. The complaint also alleged violations of the Tom Bane Civil Rights Acts ... and the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976... against Captain Vernon for his threats to arrest appellants if they used a projector or amplified sound during their protest....

The order appellants seek in this case—“to compel [the City] ‘to make enforcement decisions without regard to religion’”—would control the manner in which the City exercises its discretion to enforce criminal laws. This type of order is barred under the rule codified in Civil Code section 3369....

Appellants here fail to demonstrate how the City acted unreasonably and arbitrarily. Appellants admit their purpose in filing this action was to obtain a ruling as to whether “religious motivation [can lawfully] create[ ] an exemption from prosecution” under Penal Code section 597. Appellants’ pursuit of a definitive ruling means the issue remained unsettled at the time the City made its choice not to enforce the law....

... Appellants identify no allegation in which Captain Vernon threatened them with violence beyond his threats of arrest. Without more, appellants have failed to plead sufficient facts to establish violations under the Bane and Ralph Act....

Appellants finally contend ... violation of the Establishment Clause..... Raised for the first time on appeal, appellants contend they have taxpayer standing to assert this claim. Appellants’ failure to present this theory in the trial court and adequately brief the issue on appeal has forfeited the argument....

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Consent Decree Entered In RLUIPA Suit Charging Discrimination Against Orthodox Jews

Last week, a New York federal district court entered a consent decree (full text) in United States v. Village of Airmont, (SD NY, Oct. 19, 2023). The decree settles a RLUIPA suit brought by the Justice Department charging the Village with religious discrimination. The consent decree supersedes a preliminary injunction issued by consent in 2021. (See prior posting.) According to the Justice Department's press release describing last week's consent decree:

The lawsuit alleged that Airmont had revised its zoning code in 2018 to discriminate against Orthodox Jewish residents and make it more difficult for them to worship in their own homes. The consent decree increases the amount of space in private homes that can be used for worship, removes restrictions that limited who residents are allowed to invite into their own homes to pray and eliminates the use of an arbitrary, drawn-out application process designed to delay and effectively deny permits for even minor alterations to private houses. Since 1991, this is the third lawsuit brought by the United States against Airmont for discriminating against the Orthodox Jewish community.

Sunday, September 24, 2023

President Sends Yom Kippur Greetings

The White House today posted a Statement from President Biden (full text) sending best wishes for Yom Kippur to Jewish communities in the United States, Israel and around the world.  The Statement says in part:

The blessing of Yom Kippur is that it is not just a day of reflection, repentance, and reverence – but a day of transformation, forgiveness, and hope. God invites us to write a new chapter in the story of our lives, and in the life of our nation. As the High Holidays conclude, let us all summon the courage to make the changes required to bridge the gap between the world we see and the world we seek.

Yom Kippur begins at sundown this evening. 

Friday, September 15, 2023

President Sends Rosh Hashanah Greetings

The White House today posted a Rosh Hashanah Statement from the President saying in part:

I’ve always believed that the message of Rosh Hashanah is universal. As Americans, the power lies within each of us to make our country more free and fair, to transform the story of our time, and to heal the soul of our nation.

Throughout the High Holidays and in the year ahead, let us summon the courage to reflect on who we are and extend compassion, love, and kindness to all. Let us celebrate and protect generations of Jewish Americans whose values, culture, and contributions have shaped our character as a nation, and enriched every part of American life. And let us remember the common values that bind us together as fellow Americans.

Jill and I extend our warmest wishes to all those celebrating Rosh Hashanah in the United States, Israel, and around the world.

Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown this evening.

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Former Israeli Prime Minister Wins Defamation Action

Times of Israel reports that a Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court yesterday ruled in favor of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in his defamation action against Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi.  Mizrachi had falsely claimed that Bennett's mother is not Jewish. The court ordered Mizrachi to pay damages and to post an apology on his YouTube channel. The suit is part of a series of defamation actions that Bennett has filed since he left office seeking to “clean the internet” of "poison and fake news" in Israel.

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Jewish Faculty at NY College Can Move Ahead with Hostile Work Environment Lawsuit

In Lax v. City University of New York, (NY Kings Cty. Sup. Ct., Aug. 24, 2023), a New York state trial court allowed five Orthodox Jewish faculty members at Kingsborough Community College to move ahead with their religious hostile work environment and retaliation claims against the school, the faculty union and others (except for certain claims that duplicated ones being pursued administratively). According to the court:

Plaintiffs allege that they and other observant Jewish faculty and staff members at Kingsborough have faced pervasive, anti-religious discrimination from a particular segment of fellow faculty members who are the leaders of a faculty group called the Progressive Faculty Caucus of Kings borough Community College (PFC).... The New Caucus closely coordinated with the PFC.... Plaintiffs claim that the New Caucus members collaborated with the PFC members to dominate campus elections and call for the removal of observant Jewish faculty members, administrators, department chairs, and others at Kings borough. Plaintiffs allege that each of the defendants actually participated in, and aided and abetted, the conduct giving rise to their discrimination and retaliation claims.

Plaintiffs assert, among numerous alleged acts of discriminatory conduct, that ... the PFC and the New Caucus members lobbied against ... observant Jewish candidates running in campus elections; that the PFC members called for the removal of observant Jewish faculty members...; that the PFC organized an anti-discrimination event for a Friday night ... with the purpose of excluding Sabbath-observant Jewish members...; that the Union leaders applied pressure to Kingsborough's chief diversity officer ... to suppress the investigation of the Friday Night Event....

... CUNY claims that it is not responsible for the alleged discrimination against plaintiffs by a faculty group, i.e., the PFC, or the political party composed of certain members of the faculty, i.e., the New Caucus. CUNY maintains that plaintiffs lump all of their disparate allegations together in an attempt to hold it responsible for the alleged actions of the other defendants. 

An employer, such as CUNY, however, can be held liable for an employee's discriminatory act where "the employer became a party to it by encouraging, condoning, or approving it"....

Legal Insurrection reports on the lawsuit.

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

New Jersey Settles With Township Accused of Discriminating Against Orthodox Jewish Residents

 A Consent Order (full text) was entered yesterday by a New Jersey trial court in Platkin v. Jackson Township, (NJ Super., Aug. 28, 2023).  In the suit, the state alleged that the Township had violated the Law Against Discrimination by taking zoning and enforcement actions against the growing Orthodox Jewish population in the Township. (See prior posting.) Under the Order, the Township must pay $275,000 in penalties and place another $150,000 in a Restitution Fund. It must end its discriminatory use of land use and zoning regulations and create a Multicultural Committee. It must create procedures for erecting Sukkahs and eruvim, and must comply with a previously issued order in federal enforcement case to zone to allow religious schools, including schools with dormitories, in various parts of the Township. The New Jersey Attorney General issued a press release with further information on the settlement agreement.

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Jewish Couple Denied Child Placement Services by United Methodist Agency Have Standing to Sue

In Rutan-Ram v. Tennessee Department of Children's Services, (Aug. 24, 2023), a Tennessee state appellate court reversed a decision of a special 3-judge trial court (see prior posting) and held that a Jewish couple who allege religious discrimination by a state-subsidized United Methodist child-placement agency have standing to sue.  The agency refused to provide the couple with foster care training and a home study because the couple did not share the agency's religious beliefs. A Tennessee statute protects faith-based agencies that refuse to participate in placing a child because of the agency's religious or moral convictions. Subsequently the Department of Children's Services provided the couple directly with the training required. The court said in part:

In the present case, the allegations of the complaint assert that the Couple has been denied and are being denied equal access to stated-funded foster and adoption services because of their Jewish faith. In finding that the Couple lacked standing, the three-judge panel again emphasized that the State was providing the Couple with child placement services. However, when the state makes it more difficult for members of one group than for members of another group to obtain services, the injury in fact “is the denial of equal treatment resulting from the imposition of the barrier, not the ultimate inability to obtain the benefit.” ...

When a statute subjects a group of people to unequal treatment based upon their religious beliefs, the fact that the statute may allow discrimination against other religious groups does not negate a disfavored group’s standing to challenge the statute....

The court also concluded that six other Tennessee taxpayers who were co-plaintiffs have taxpayer standing to sue. AP reports on the decision. [Thanks to Thomas Rutledge for the lead.]

Wednesday, August 09, 2023

FSIA Precludes Suit Against Hungary for Property Confiscated from Its Jewish Population In Holocaust

In Simon v. Republic of Hungary, (DC Cir., Aug. 8, 2023), in a case on remand from the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the government of Hungary may not be sued in United States Courts for taking of property from its own nationals. The court said in part:

In 1944, as World War II neared its end, the Hungarian government implemented an accelerated campaign to exterminate its remaining Jewish population. Within a matter of months, the government systematically executed over half a million Jews—roughly two-thirds of the Jewish population in Hungary at the war’s outset. This state-perpetrated genocidal campaign ranks among the greatest crimes in human history.

The questions raised by these appeals bear on whether survivors of the Hungarian Holocaust may hale the Hungarian government and its instrumentalities into United States courts to answer for a subset of the wrongs they committed—namely, their confiscation of property from victims of the Holocaust. The plaintiffs invoke the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s expropriation exception as a means to pierce the Hungarian state’s sovereign immunity and assert jurisdiction in federal district court. Defendants object that the exception is inapplicable....

Cognizant of the Supreme Court’s recent holding that “a country’s alleged taking of property from its own nationals” generally falls outside the scope of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s expropriation exception ..., the plaintiffs in these suits assert they were not Hungarian nationals at the time of the takings at issue. They instead claim that they were either stateless or Czechoslovakian nationals. The district court dismissed the claims of the plaintiffs asserting statelessness but concluded that most of the plaintiffs asserting Czechoslovakian nationality could proceed. 

We largely affirm. Like the district court, we conclude that the plaintiffs claiming statelessness ... have not made out a recognized claim within a Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act exception....

We likewise affirm the district court’s denial of the defendants’ motions to dismiss the claims of some of the plaintiffs asserting Czechoslovakian nationality, with a few exceptions....

Judge Randolph dissented as to the plaintiffs claiming Czechoslovakian nationality.

 

Sunday, May 07, 2023

King Charles Coronation Ceremony for First Time Includes Participation by Non-Anglican Faith Leaders

The Church of England has published (full text) the 42-page Authorized Liturgy for the Coronation Rite of His Majesty King Charles III along with Commentary on each portion of the liturgy. Unique to Charles' coronation is the participation of representatives of faith communities outside the Church of England. Representatives of other Christian communities will offer blessings during the Coronation service (see pg. 25). They are The Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Thyateira & Great Britain; The Moderator of The Free Churches; The Secretary General of Churches Together in England; and The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. The Church of England's Commentary to this portion of the liturgy reads:

The progress of ecumenical relations since 1953 means that, for the first time, this Blessing is to be shared by Christian leaders across the country.

In addition, non-Christian faith leaders will have a role in the Coronation. The ceremony begins with a Procession of Faith Leaders & Representatives of Faith Communities (see pg. 2).  The Commentary to the liturgy reads:

Faith Leaders and representatives from the Jewish, Sunni and Shia Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Bahai and Zoroastrian communities will be part of the procession into Westminster Abbey. 

This represents the multi-faith nature of our society and the importance of inclusion of other faiths whilst respecting the integrities of the different traditions.

The ceremony ends with the new King receiving a greeting by representatives of the Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, and Buddhist faith communities:

As the King stands before the Leaders and Representatives of the Faith Communities, they deliver the following greeting in unison. 

Faith Leaders & Representatives: 

Your Majesty, as neighbours in faith, we acknowledge the value of public service. We unite with people of all faiths and beliefs in thanksgiving, and in service with you for the common good.

The King acknowledges the greeting, and turns to greet the Governors-General.

The Commentary to this section of the Liturgy reads:

In an unprecedented gesture consolidating the significance of the religious diversity of the Realms, the Sovereign will take his final moments of the service to receive a greeting from the leaders and representatives from the major non-Christian faith traditions. 

In a spoken greeting these faith leaders and representatives speak with their own voices, as communities, but deliver the greeting in unison, as a community of faiths, united in the service of others, and in thanksgiving for His Majesty’s example this day, and every day of his reign. 

We remain grateful to all faith communities for exploring ways in which such an act of unity could be produced, and especially to the Jewish community for finding ways to make this possible without compromising the observance of Shabbat.

CNN reported that  England's Chief Rabbi was invited to stay at St. James Palace over the Sabbath so that he could walk to the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.  Catholic News Agency in an article titled Catholic prelate to participate in British coronation for first time since Reformation reported that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales in advance of the Coronation has issued a special prayer card with prayers for the King. Law & Religion UK has additional reporting on the coronation.