EU lexicon removes term “Islamic terrorism”

[sonz]

The European Union is reviewing the language it uses to describe terrorists who claim to act in the name of Islam, the Telegraph reported.

Senior EU officials are currently drafting a “non-emotive lexicon for discussing radicalization” that will be presented to European leaders in June, according to diplomats and civil servants from the 25-nation bloc.

"Certainly 'Islamic terrorism' is something we will not use ... we talk about 'terrorists who abusively invoke Islam'," an EU official said.

EU officials hope the new lexicon, which would not be legally binding, would be passed by all EU institutions, such as the European Commission and European Parliament.

The lexicon is being discussed only at a "working group level" but has the support of Gijs de Vries, the EU's counter-terrorism co-ordinator.

The officials have examined the impacts of several offensive terms such as Islamist, fundamentalist and jihad to describe acts of terrorism and murder.

Many experts believe that the words “Islam” and “terrorism” shouldn’t be used together, and said that the use of such expressions “alienates” European Muslims.

According to one EU official, “the basic idea behind it (the lexicon) is to avoid the use of improper words that would cause frustration among Muslims and increase the risk of radicalization.”

"Jihad means something for you and me; it means something else for a Muslim," EU officials recently said at a Berlin conference. "Jihad is a perfectly positive concept of trying to fight evil within yourself."

Although UK officials are involved in drafting the lexicon, government sources say London was unlikely to adopt it or ban the term “Islamic terrorist”.

The lexicon is seen in the UK as more likely to be used by other governments with limited exposure to Muslims. "We believe there is a balance to be struck between raising awareness of the impact that language can have and not letting extremism go unchallenged,” a Home Office source said.

[rubiesand]

The term 'Islamic terrorism' is an oxymoron, so it is good if they will finally stop using it.