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

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

HILVERSUM, The Netherlands, December 6/PRNewswire/ --

- World first!

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

For more information please contact Marjolein Klaassen-Hulst, Radio Netherlands Worldwide press officer. T +31-35-672-42-12, M +31-651-15-63-94, E marjolein.klaassen@rnw.nl

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