I've heard Islam described as 'spiritual communism.' How can any organization, let alone a religion thrive by promoting hatred? If they ever prevailed by such a path, what kind of society would they build? One 'ruled' by hatred? Haven't we had that since the beginning of time?
Ironically, the jews and muslims have a similar view of the nature of god, namely as a majestic, powerful, yet distant being.
It was Jesus, unique among all the world's religions, who introduced the notion that god has the heart of a parent toward his children. That being the case, it's only logical that god would only desire his children love one another.
Some christians believe that god will intervene in some final "last days" strategy and save us all. Personally, I believe it's up to the children to bring the other children around.
Is love more powerful than hatred? Here is the final test for mankind to find out. If not, all is lost.
As a practical matter, then, I think religious leaders and scholars, must get together and work to find common ground. There should be an unending conference of religious scholars toward this end. Islamic scholars should be invited to discuss with christian, jewish, buddhist and others. The results should be published and insights gained taken back and shared with congregations. This obviously cannot be done by force or motivated by hatred.
Only through interreligious dialogue will the bridges of understanding begin to emerge. We simply cannot bomb the entire Islamic world into submission. We have to reach out.
In conclusion, what I'm saying is that I believe the problem is ultimately ideological in nature. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all agree that there is only one God. If moslems and jews and christians would pray together, I'm sure God would gladly answer with a vision that would transform humanity.