But, Susan, "jihad" is simply a Muslim word that means "holy war", is it not? Is that hard for people to understand what I mean about that when it is explained calmly?

A holy war is a holy war is a holy war. What difference does it make if one culture calls it a "jihad" while another calls it a "crusade", etc...as long as everyone understands that human beings do this sort of thing at times and feel morally justified when they do it?

To realize that all nations share this kind of thinking (at times) is to move away from prejudice and zenophobia and toward a recognition of our shared humanity as a single (and fallible) human race. It is to stop seeing the Muslim or the Jew as some sort of grotesque cultural stereotype, and start seeing them as another human similar to ourselves.

I've met any number of Muslims who do not wish to launch a jihad against anyone, and any number of Jews who do not wish to do that either. Sadly enough, those are not the people you tend to hear about in news reporting too much these days. (It's not exciting enough. They want exciting stuff on the News...it attracts viewers.)