:: Objectives ::

PASSIA's Religious Studies Unit was initiated in 1998 to advance interfaith understanding and inspire dialogue among the three monotheistic religions. The intention of the project was and remains to address the issue of inter-religious relations, including current problems within and between the three religious communities, their mutual misperceptions and their respective views on future coexistence. By organizing and promoting research, lectures, publications, symposia, and face-to-face encounters, PASSIA hopes to accomplish the following:

• to promote mutual understanding and further peaceful relations and respect between and among the people of different beliefs;

• to provide a forum for and to facilitate open debate and free discussion between scholars, professionals and others interested on religious issues and aspects concerning the life and the people in the Holy Land;

• to promote research into ways of developing inter-religious understanding, and find methods that allow different religions to work in harmony and on an equal footing;

• to provide opportunities for learning about each other's faiths without prejudice;

• to re-examine the meaning of the religious assumptions - particularly about one another - through careful and in-depth studies of each other's sacred writings and traditions;

• to question the misconceptions that have contributed to historical conflict between the monotheistic religions and work towards mutual respect of each other's legitimacy and distinctiveness;

• to achieve international recognition of the fact that religious belief in the Middle East is not the same as religious fundamentalism and thus not a threat as widely believed.