This means “JIHAD” in their own words
The Danish Security Service, PET, is proposing that the Danish government refrain from using the words “war against terror” and “Jihad”.
In an eight page report the language use PET recommends that the authorities choose their words with care in order to deescalate the conflict between the West and the Muslim world.
Besides refraining from using the phrase “war against terror” PET recommends to refrain from speaking of Muslims as a population group related to terror and extremism. Other expression to refrain from using are “jihad”, “holy war”, “Islamism”, “fundamentalism” or “mujahedines”.
The suggestions from PET’s Center for Terror Analysis (CTA) are intended to ensure that the world’s Muslims don’t feel suspected of being terrorists and that PET doesn’t encourage Muslims by adopting their own terms, like Jihad.
PET suggests that authorities don’t use the term “Islamist terrorist” and instead use just ‘terrorist’. Other terms suggested by the report are “extremist”, “militant” and “violent”
The head of PET’s department for preventing security, Anja Dalgaard-Nielsen, says that this isn’t an issue of political correctness but of ensuring a use of language that is as precise and objective as possible. Terrorists don’t just engage in a violent war but also in a war of words, of a specific outlook on the world.
The report, titled “Language Use and Fighting Terrorism (Sprogbrug og Terrorbekæmpelse) advises in general against tying Islam and terrorism together, since the typical person doesn’t differentiate between Islam the religion and Islamism the political ideology.
The report says that in order to prevent stigmatizing the Muslim population CTA recommends to always consider how much it contributes to coherence to use religious terms in describing terrorism (for example, “Islamic”).
PET will endeavor to follow the recommendations.
An earlier report by a former PET analyst also suggested not using the combination “Muslim terrorists”.
Mehdi Mozzafari, head of the Center for Research in Islamism and Radicalization processes at Aarhus University, says that the intention is good, but that they risk ignoring reality if they don’t call Osama Bin Laden and Islamist terrorist. It’s not tenable and Islamism certainly comes out of Islam.
Justice minister Lene Espersen, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Integration Minister Birthe Rønn Hornbech refused to say whether they will follow the recommendations.
Sources: Nyhedsavisen 1, 2 (Danish)
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Posted By Esther to Islam in Europe
