See Ira Rifkin’s excellent commentary in the Baltimore Sun about the slippery use of words like “intifada” and “jihad.”
In fact, jihad – derived from the Arabic word for “effort” – has multiple meanings. It can refer to an inner spiritual struggle as well as external political struggles. However, there is no denying that it also means “holy war” and that violent groups claiming to be fighting on behalf of Islam use the term to mean just that, even incorporating it into their name.
When Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says, “The only way to confront the Zionist enemy is the continuation and fortification of resistance and jihad,” his use of the word is unambiguous. So is its inclusion in the name of the radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad. . . .
Ms. Almontaser argued that intifada “basically means ‘shaking off'” in Arabic. Technically, she’s correct – just as the word bastard has a primary dictionary definition and another in common usage.
The Palestinian uprising against Israel is known worldwide as the intifada, thereby forever associating the word with the bombings of coffee shops, pizza parlors, markets and municipal buses. . . .
Words convey multiple meanings. To claim exoneration on linguistic technicalities while blaming others for misunderstanding is intellectually dishonest.
