Friday, April 14, 2006

In The Face of Terrorism

The EU Observer reports:-

'Islamic terrorism' phrase to be banned from EU lexicon

The EU is working on a public communication lexicon which blacklists the term 'Islamic terrorism.' The 'non-emotive lexicon for discussing radicalisation' should be submitted to EU leaders who will meet in June, according to press reports. EU officials drafting the guidelines hope that the European Commission and the European Parliament will also endorse the linguistic code of conduct, which will be non-binding.

The aim of the guidelines is to avoid the use of words that could unnecessarily offend Muslims and spark radicalisation. 'Jihad' is another term under review, said an EU official, explaining: '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.'

The lexicon initiative comes in the wake of a row over Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Mohamed, which led to outbreaks of anger and violence throughout the Muslim world. The European Commission currently employs 20 terminologists, one for each official language, to advise translators how to handle not only EU policy jargon such as 'subsidiarity,' but also sensitive words like 'terrorism.'



Those Europeans are so helpful when it comes to defending its citizens from the viciousness of terror.

So sensitive.

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