Of course the jihadists aren't following the Koran-- this is the same phenomenon so may USers have already fallen for, here-- getting to know people by whole batches via the media, instead of getting to know real, live, human beans in the flesh. Letting the extremists who capture the media capture our own perceptions, as well. I run into it every day, here and IRL, as a Christian with very little in common with either the media darlings (or the misguided abusers so many folks have experienced in childhood).

This violence is not changed by mass effort group-to-group, but by individuals one-on-one, en masse. The only hope in the Israeli/Palestinian picture has come that way, but it takes time, and doesn't work well in soundbytes. Instead of damning the groups and/or the media, it's much simpler and more powerful to build those 1-1 relationships, and support the organizations fostering that.

There is still no substiturte for actually getting to know abother human bean. Ask BillD if you don't believe me.

~S~