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IKON and Radio Netherlands Worldwide Build a Bridge Between Christians and Muslims

2007-12-06 18:51 3437

-- World first!

HILVERSUM, the Netherlands, Dec. 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Today, 6 December, Dutch broadcasting companies Radio Netherlands Worldwide and IKON in Hilversum are launching a world first: the integral texts of the Bible and the Qu'ran alongside each other on one website. The site appears in Dutch, English and Arabic at the same time. The objective of the site is to build a bridge between Muslims and Christians. The website http://www.bibleandkoran.net removes the threshold for anyone to access the two holy books anonymously.

A universal search function makes it possible to search the texts of the holy books using any word and to compare them. The site shows the frequency of the word in each of the books and also displays all relevant parts of the text. The results are surprising. A word such as 'virgin' for example appears 16 times in the Bible compared to twice in the Qu'ran. To help visitors in their search through the voluminous books, the site contains a selection of eighteen stories, which occur both in the Qu'ran and the Bible. This also provides a few surprises; for example both holy books tell stories about Jezus/Isa, Noach/Noeh, Maria/Marjam and many others.

Around 150 people connected to this issue are attending a festive multi-cultural and international gathering to launch the website at the Institute for Sound and Vision in the Media Park in Hilversum. The main speaker, who has flown over from England, is advisor to the Council of Europe Stephen Whittle. As controller of editorial policy at the BBC, Mr. Whittle has earned his spurs as an advocate for objective reporting on Christian and Islamic issues.

In a video message, Arabist and philosopher Tariq Ramadam stresses the international importance of the website for the dialogue between Muslims and Christians. "If we want to promote mutual respect we need knowledge of the other text, but in a humble way. Every one of us should be committed to get knowledge from the website." Dutch Integration Minister Ella Vogelaar also enthusiastically welcomes the initiative of the two broadcasting stations via the video camera.

Source: Radio Netherlands Worldwide
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