The European Jewish Congress' (EJC) Security and Crisis Centre (SACC) announced on Thursday in a press release that it will be partnering with Christian, Muslim and Buddhist houses of worship throughout Europe in order to protect them, following the recieval of a €3 million grant from the European Commission.
The Conference of European Churches, Faith Matters and the European Buddhist Union are also included in the initiative.
As a result of the grant, the participating organizations will create a project called ‘Safer and Stronger Communities in Europe (SASCE), which will focus on a a multi-layered approach for increasing security.
“We are delighted that the European Commission has given a vote of confidence in our SACC model and together with our partners we will see that places of worship in Europe are better safeguarded," said Dr. Moshe Kantor, President of the EJC. "Solidarity and cooperation among communities of faith is vital at this point, because an attack on one community is an attack on all communities."
"As we have seen in the attack on the synagogue of Halle on 9 October 2019, once the perpetrator realized he would not succeed killing Jews, he sought to kill Muslims at a nearby restaurant. Having Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Jewish communities standing together and sharing best practices for the safety of each other will help build bridges and can make for a more united, peaceful and tolerant Europe,” Kantor added.
As part of the pilot phase of the project, some 1,000 Jewish communal buildings in Europe will be equipped with new security technology in order to increase protection.
“We hope that this will be the beginning of a long-term process of interfaith cooperation on security, that will have very positive effects for religious communities across the EU,” Kantor concluded.