{"id":28768,"date":"2016-09-22T06:00:21","date_gmt":"2016-09-21T20:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=28768"},"modified":"2016-09-20T12:46:22","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T02:46:22","slug":"da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/","title":{"rendered":"Da-ish or Islamic State\u2014much ado about nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Image<\/p>\n

I really can\u2019t agree with John Blaxland\u2019s view regarding what term we should use for Islamic State, for two reasons; it doesn\u2019t really matter what term you use, and the very people that John advocates should use the term Da\u2018ish rarely if ever pronounce it properly, thereby losing any effect that may accrue from its use. I refer to it as Islamic State or IS because that\u2019s what they call themselves. I used to call them ISIS when that\u2019s the term they used. I do quite like the BBC\u2019s approach of using \u2018so-called Islamic State\u2019 which has a bit of the \u2018bob each way\u2019 about it but is both accurate and condescending at the same time.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no standard way of referring to the group within the region (my interlocutors variously use IS, ISIS, ISIL, Da\u2018ish or sometimes dawla<\/em> (state)). So thinking that somehow using a term that few English-speaking people can pronounce correctly<\/a> will delegitimise the whole foundational narrative of Islamic State is a bit silly. Whether it\u2019s a middle-aged Anglo academic or politician who mangles the Arabic word Da\u2018ish, if any fighters or would-be fighters are even aware of the linguistic bombs being thrown at them in an effort to diss their brand name, they\u2019re more likely to double over in paroxysms of laughter on hearing the pronunciation than be dissuaded from joining Islamic State.<\/p>\n

That alone should be enough to dissuade putative linguistic commandos from changing their naming conventions, but it is worth knocking over a few more of the other information operations shibboleths brought out in the article.<\/p>\n

First, that Islamic State is neither Islamic nor a state. The latter point is valid, the former not. The international community accords sovereignty, and hasn\u2019t in the case of IS. But religious identity is a much more contested issue. The Catholic Church can tell you who is or isn\u2019t \u2018of the faith\u2019 because they control the entry (baptism) and exit (excommunication) functions. But with no centralised system of control, the concept of who is Islamic or not is, and always has been, contested. The current spat<\/a> in which the Iranians called the Saudis \u2018faithless\u2019 and the Saudis claimed the Iranians were \u2018not Muslims\u2019 shows how contested the term \u2018Muslim\u2019 can be even at the international level. Islamic State consider themselves the very epitome of Muslims, while the vast majority of Muslims consider them anything but. Islamic State is an abhorrent, intolerant form of Islam but it\u2019s a form of Islam nonetheless. Claiming it\u2019s not Islamic obviates the need to address the religious aspect to the phenomenon, which is central to defeating not only it, but other jihadist groups.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also contradictory to argue that one shouldn\u2019t refer to \u2018Islamic State\u2019 because it advocates violence in the name of Islam and hence goes against the peaceful nature of the religion when we readily talk about Hizbullah (party of God) or Hamas (acronym of Islamic Resistance Movement) or Palestinian Islamic Jihad for instance. But if we want to confine our discussion to contemporary events in Syria, then why don\u2019t we seek to re-label other jihadi groups and coalitions who directly or indirectly refer to their Islamic identity while advocating and conducting violent actions? If Islamic State should be referred to as Da\u2019ish because it isn\u2019t truly Islamic, then how should we refer to Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) or Ahrar ash-Sham al-Islamiyya (who are members of the Higher Negotiating Committee)? One in, all in I say.<\/p>\n

Second, that using the term Daesh delegitimises the cause in the eyes of potential English-speaking recruits and may deter young and impressionable people from joining. Ummm, I don\u2019t think so. My experience of the attraction of IS to Australian foreign fighters has never involved any consideration of what the PM or any government minister said. The appeal stems from what their mentor, relative or facilitator said, or from multiple days\u2019 worth of jihadist video viewing. What middle-aged politicians call the group has no impact.<\/p>\n

Third, that fighters are lured by Daesh\u2019s (sic) sexually-charged fantasies. Sex sells papers, and \u2018jihadi brides\u2019 are grist to the media mill. But the social media put out by IS is largely about fighting and battlefield victory, with some Islamic governance thrown in. Recruits are lured by a desire to protect Muslims from their \u2018oppressors\u2019 (the standard phraseology of jihadis) or as an expression of a triumphant religious identity to fill some void in their hitherto unremarkable lives. Some telephone intercepts may refer to access to women but there\u2019s no evidence that supports the \u2018sex drives jihad\u2019 thesis.<\/p>\n

Fourth, its use clearly rattles the Daesh leadership. Really? Its senior leadership is being decimated by airstrikes, and the group has lost its last border crossing into Turkey as well as Ramadi, Manbij and Palmyra so far this year, along with significant amounts of funding. How middle-aged white people refer to them is the least of their worries. And the only reference to Islamic State threatening to cut out people\u2019s tongues for using the term came from an Associated Press<\/em> article<\/a> two years ago that cited anonymous sources in Mosul who claimed that IS fighters made this threat to them\u2014hardly indicative that the term\u2019s usage rattles Islamic State\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

I do, however agree with John that some may consider the issue a moot point and not worth pursuing.<\/p>\n

Acknowledgment: John and I have known each other for more than 30 years.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I really can\u2019t agree with John Blaxland\u2019s view regarding what term we should use for Islamic State, for two reasons; it doesn\u2019t really matter what term you use, and the very people that John advocates …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":28772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[273,1012,895,527],"class_list":["post-28768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-counterterrorism","tag-daesh","tag-islamic-state","tag-language"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDa-ish or Islamic State\u2014much ado about nothing | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Da-ish or Islamic State\u2014much ado about nothing | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I really can\u2019t agree with John Blaxland\u2019s view regarding what term we should use for Islamic State, for two reasons; it doesn\u2019t really matter what term you use, and the very people that John advocates ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-21T20:00:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-20T02:46:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/2363694735_507a4eea3b_o-e1474339515950.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"507\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rodger Shanahan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rodger Shanahan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/2363694735_507a4eea3b_o-e1474339515950.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/2363694735_507a4eea3b_o-e1474339515950.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":507,\"caption\":\"Image courtesy of Flickr user Alice Bartlett.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/\",\"name\":\"Da-ish or Islamic State\u2014much ado about nothing | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-21T20:00:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-20T02:46:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/e1efd8d49db8e6e136f780f5aa835b03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Da-ish or Islamic State\u2014much ado about nothing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/e1efd8d49db8e6e136f780f5aa835b03\",\"name\":\"Rodger Shanahan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27e06ceca93fbd5f6e40e64961da74ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27e06ceca93fbd5f6e40e64961da74ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rodger Shanahan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/rodger-shanahan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Da-ish or Islamic State\u2014much ado about nothing | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Da-ish or Islamic State\u2014much ado about nothing | The Strategist","og_description":"I really can\u2019t agree with John Blaxland\u2019s view regarding what term we should use for Islamic State, for two reasons; it doesn\u2019t really matter what term you use, and the very people that John advocates ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2016-09-21T20:00:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-20T02:46:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":507,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/2363694735_507a4eea3b_o-e1474339515950.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rodger Shanahan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rodger Shanahan","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/2363694735_507a4eea3b_o-e1474339515950.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/2363694735_507a4eea3b_o-e1474339515950.jpg","width":640,"height":507,"caption":"Image courtesy of Flickr user Alice Bartlett."},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/","name":"Da-ish or Islamic State\u2014much ado about nothing | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-09-21T20:00:21+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-20T02:46:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/e1efd8d49db8e6e136f780f5aa835b03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/da-ish-islamic-state-much-ado-nothing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Da-ish or Islamic State\u2014much ado about nothing"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/e1efd8d49db8e6e136f780f5aa835b03","name":"Rodger Shanahan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27e06ceca93fbd5f6e40e64961da74ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27e06ceca93fbd5f6e40e64961da74ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rodger Shanahan"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/rodger-shanahan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28768"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28775,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28768\/revisions\/28775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}