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

Hilversum, The Netherlands (ots/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.

ots Originaltext: Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

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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