Don't confuse terrorism with Islam, says EU

Telegraph reported The European Union has drawn up guidelines advising government spokesmen to refrain from linking Islam and terrorism in their statements. Brussels officials have confirmed the existence of a classified handbook which offers "non-offensive" phrases to use when announcing anti-terrorist operations or dealing with terrorist attacks.

We certainly would not want to offend people that blow people up just to show they disapprove of something.

Banned terms are said to include "jihad", "Islamic" or "fundamentalist".

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and a fundamentalist Islamic jihadist by any other name would still kill indescriminately.

The word "jihad" is to be avoided altogether, according to some sources, because for Muslims the word can mean a personal struggle to live a moral life.

Tell that to the jihadists that are killing people. And tell the Muslims faced with an internal struggle to lead a moral life to criticize terrorist acts when the people that commit them say they are doing it because the Qur'an tells them to do so.

One alternative, suggested publicly last year, is for the term "Islamic terrorism" to be replaced by "terrorists who abusively invoke Islam".

Why use five words when two says it all.

An EU official said that the secret guidebook, or, "common lexicon", is aimed at preventing the distortion of the Muslim faith and the alienation of Muslims in Europe. "The common lexicon includes guidance on a number of frequently used terms where lack of care by EU and member states' spokespeople may give rise to misunderstandings," he said. "Careful usage of certain terms is not about empty political correctness

We hope that they will kill us last if we are nice to them.

but stems from astute awareness of the EU's interests in the fight against terrorism.

Jawa Report blogged Since we cannot use the terms "Islamic fundamentalists", or "jihadis", what exactly are we going to call the Islamic fundametalist jihadis? Oh, yeah: "French youth".

Hot Air blogged In the name of human rights, we’re getting a sharia-based speech code rammed down our throats on a global scale. Is it just me, or the 21st Century shaping up to suck mightily?