Columnist Elizabeth Chidlow argues it is important to understand the difference between Daesh and Muslims.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
Sadly, for cities like Paris, Beirut and Baghdad, the past few days have been the worst of times. Paris and Beirut, along with a funeral in Baghdad, were both attacked by suicide bombers. The bombers were recently revealed to be under the command of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
As the mortality numbers grew, so did Islamophobic social media posts and face-to-face conversations. This specific phobia, which has gripped the West for years, is defined as an exaggerated fear, hatred and hostility toward Islam and Muslims that is perpetuated by negative stereotypes resulting in bias, discrimination and the marginalization and exclusion of Muslims from social, political and civic life. Basically, it is the thought process that because an extremist did something in the name of Islam, then everyone who follows Islam is an extremist.
“No religion is responsible for terrorism — people are responsible for violence and terrorism,” President Obama said to delegates at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism.
Islam is a peaceful religion. ISIS and groups like al-Qaeda have perverted and twisted people’s perceptions of the religion. An Islamic follower would never blow up copies of the Qur’an or kill fellow Muslims, whether they be Sunni or Shia. In a way, the extremist group represents its “religion” the same way. Dylann Roof, who was accused of the Charleston church shooting, represents Christianity.
“They no more represent Islam than any madman who kills innocents in the name of God, represents Christianity or Judaism or Buddhism or Hinduism,” Obama said.
For this reason, French President François Hollande, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and many others have started to call the terrorist group "Daesh" instead of ISIS, symbolizing that it is in no way linked to Islam. According to the Boston Globe, the term — which highly annoys the extremist group — means “a bigot who imposes his view on others” or “to trample down and crush.”
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Another disturbing thought evolving from the attacks is that the refugees in Paris are to blame. The reality is that it was the extremists who caused the people of Syria to become refugees and risk their lives to escape from their homes. ISIS seized the Syrian city of Raqqa, the first provincial capital to fall under rebel control in 2013. Then, the group seized large sections of Ramadi, Iraq, and it still has a presence in a number of towns near the Turkish and Syrian borders.
The refugees are not the extremists. Muslims in both America and the Middle East are not the extremists. It was Daesh that took innocent lives in Paris, Beirut, Baghdad and many, many other cities not mentioned in U.S. media coverage.
“ ... (the Islamic State) cannot be contained, it must be defeated,” former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in the Democratic debate Saturday.
But how does one defeat something with no definitive location? How does one defeat an ideology?
Elizabeth Chidlow is a sophomore studying journalism. What do you think about referring to ISIS as "Daesh"? Email her at ec629914@ohio.edu.
