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EU lexicon to shun term “Islamic terrorism”

Apr 11, 2006 7:44 am By Robert Spencer

From Reuters, with thanks to Twostellas:

BERLIN (Reuters) – The European Union, tiptoeing through a minefield of religious and cultural sensitivities, is discreetly reviewing the language it uses to describe terrorists who claim to act in the name of Islam.

EU officials are working on what they call a “lexicon” for public communication on terrorism and Islam, designed to make clear that there is nothing in the religion to justify outrages like the September 11 attacks or the bombings of Madrid and London.

The lexicon would set down guidelines for EU officials and politicians.

“Certainly ‘Islamic terrorism’ is something we will not use … we talk about ‘terrorists who abusively invoke Islam’,” an EU official told Reuters.

Why is it up to the EU, or even within the purview of the EU, to determine what is authentic Islam and what isn’t?

Other terms being considered by the review include “Islamist”, “fundamentalist” and “jihad”. The latter, for example, is often used by al Qaeda and some other groups to mean warfare against infidels, but for most Muslims indicates a spiritual struggle.

Yet the meaning of the word in the Qur’an is clear, and it means warfare. If most Muslims see it as a spiritual struggle today, that doesn’t mean that the mujahedin don’t use the word, or are abusing the word. They can and do cite the Qur’an to support what they are doing. If the majority of Muslims do not believe that they are using the Qur’an properly, they should mount large-scale efforts to oppose the spread of the jihad ideology. That they have not done so is very telling.

“Jihad means something for you and me, it means something else for a Muslim. Jihad is a perfectly positive concept of trying to fight evil within yourself,” said the official, speaking anonymously because the review is an internal one that is not expected to be made public.

EU counter-terrorism chief Gijs de Vries told Reuters that terrorism was not inherent to any religion, and praised moderate Muslims for opposing attempts to hijack Islam.

“They have been increasingly active in isolating the radicals who abuse Islam for political purposes, and they deserve everyone’s support. And that includes the choice of language that makes clear that we are talking about a murderous fringe that is abusing a religion and does not represent it.”

I’m glad to hear that moderate Muslims have become increasingly active. I still don’t see anything like large-scale protests against Osama et al, on the scale of the cartoon riots. Why not?

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