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- Project Aladdin is a multi-faceted cultural initiative launched in March 2009 under the patronage of UNESCO with the aim of countering Holocaust denial and all forms of racism and intolerance, while promoting intercultural dialogue, particularly among Muslims and Jews. The project was initiated by the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, a French foundation dedicated to keeping alive the memory of the Holocaust. The Project's sponsors include President of France Jacques Chirac, and Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who are also on the Project's "Board of Distinguished Patrons." Other members of the Board include former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, and former Mauritanian President Ely Ould Mohamed Vall. More than 500 distinguished figures from Europe, North America and the Muslim world have joined the project by declaring their support for its fundamental text, A Call to Conscience. They include statesmen, parliamentarians, religious figures, intellectuals, historians, academics, authors, artists and civil society actors of different faiths and cultures. In its effort to promote knowledge as a bridge between cultures, the Aladdin Project has set up a multilingual website in English, French, Arabic, Persian and Turkish that contains information on the Holocaust, as well as a basic introduction to Jewish faith, history and culture and an overview of historical relations between Jews and Muslims in different countries. A tenet of the project is its online library, where books in Arabic and Persian can be downloaded free of charge. The first collection includes the first-ever translation into Arabic and Persian of such classics as Anne Frank's Diary and Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz. In line with the project's expressed purpose of helping to "bring about a dialogue based on knowledge and mutual respect," the fast-expanding library is set to also include works of authors from the Muslim world translated into English and French. (en)
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