Your defense of Pope John Paul 2’s kissing the Koran is not impressive. You can recognize Islam’s pseudo Abrahamic origins w/out kissing the Koran.
The image was but a moment captured out of context. JPII journeyed to Iraq for several reasons. The first was that it was the origin of Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths. His kissing of the book was an acknowledgment of this and an emphasis on the things that bind us as people, not on the things that divide us.
The second was that Koran was a gift to him from the delegation. Islamic peoples are not casual in the giving of gifts, particularly the Koran. It was great honor. The Iraqi delegation knew perfectly well that the Pope was a Catholic Christian, but they gave to him that which was regarded as most important in their life, their own holy book. It represented the most charitable act of the giver.
JPII showed his deep appreciation to this intimate self-donation, by bowing and kissing the Koran as a sign of respect. Such a gesture ran totally against the grain of crusades and condemnations. It did not mean that the Pope accepted all that was in the book, only that his love for the Muslim people, and the Iraqis in particular, was genuine.
The third and most important reason was the Pope's genuine declaration with this act that Christian love trumps all.