Brussels 28 November 2006 – Christian leaders from a wide spectrum of traditions and denominations are expressing their full support for a brand new initiative to educate Europeans about the tragic realities of the Holocaust and what the implications are for today. The campaign “learn from history” is initiated by the European Coalition for Israel in collaboration with a broad group of Christians leaders ranging from the charismatic movement to representatives from the Catholic church as well the Dutch reformed church.“- History has proven that nobody is immune against the deadly virus of anti-Semitism. This is a message which is worth repeating year after year, especially at a time when anti-Semitic violence is again on the rise in Europe and the Jewish homeland is threatened with destruction”, says Willem Glashouwer, chairman of the European Coalition for Israel and an ordained minister in the Dutch reformed church.  Glashouwer points out that "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

The educational campaign is aiming at involving local churches throughout Europe to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 as a Church day of remembrance and a day to learn from history.“- The lessons from history are clear,” says Glashouwer. “If we do not take the first warnings seriously we may wake up too late. This is what happened in the 30´s and the 40´s but we cannot let it happen again. Hence, when a world leader such as the Iranian president Ahmadinejad openly denies the historical facts of the Holocaust and is threatening to extinguish Israel we need to speak out”.

Earlier this year the European Coalition for Israel together with other concerned NGO´s successfully ran a campaign to stop the Iranian president from coming to the football World Cup in Germany.“-This proves that also dictators are sensitive to world opinion.” says Glashouwer.

The new campaign, which will become an annual event, will be supported by a multilingual website where church leaders can download speaking points, outlines for sermons and other information needed to take part in the campaign. The English version of the website is already online and the German and French versions will be added shortly. Other languages will be included as separate documents to be downloaded from the site. The website will be regularly updated with information on churches taking part in the campaign as well as endorsements from political and Christian leaders. It is already clear that the vice-president of the European Parliament Dr Ingo Friedrich will be one of the speakers at the main event in Brussels on Monday 29 January where Members of European Parliament, EU-officials as well as religious leaders are expected to take part. For local churches the whole week leading up to January 27 has been suggested as a thematic week of the Holocaust. Churches are encouraged to organise separate events to reflect on the horrors of the Holocaust and what it means for today. Other churches may chose to incorporate the theme in to their Sunday service.

“ -For many years Christians considered Holocaust remembrance day, which is adopted both by the European Union and the United Nations, as only having relevance for the political leaders. Now it is time to recongise that this day also concerns Christians”, states the organisers. “ - The colours of anti-Semitism change. Sometimes it expresses itself as political right wing, other times as left wing. Today it is often viewed as Islamic but, as history proves, it can just as well be Christian. But regardless of the form and shape the end result is always the same, hatred against the Jewish people.” explains Willem Glashouwer.

“-If the Church had just believed scripture and understood God´s love for the Jewish people the Holocaust may not have happened or may not have become so tragic, brutal and devastating” writes Reverend Malcolm Hedding from the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem in his outline for a sermon. He concludes “ However, we can make a difference today and we should”.

The initiative is supported by all the five founding members of the European Coalition for Israel * as well as respected church leaders from different parts of Europe.  For more information please visit www.learnfromhistory.eu