Friday, August 12, 2016

Is it "ISIS" or "ISIL" or Some Other Term?

Donald Trump says "everyone" calls the terrorist group in the Middle East "ISIS" and President Obama calls it "ISIL" only to "annoy people." Is there any truth to this? No.

ISIS stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. ISIL stands for Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Levant derives from the Italian for "rising" implying the rising sun in the east, east of Italy meaning the middle east. 

The Levant refers to the whole area where this terrorist organization wants to restore an Islamic State. That includes southern Turkey through Syria to Egypt, also including Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan. So, it seems to me that ISIL is more correct in identifying what ISIS/ISIL wants to accomplish.

The Associated Press describes the ISIS vs. ISIL language difference as follows:
In Arabic, the group is known as Al-Dawla Al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham, or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. The term “al-Sham” refers to a region stretching from southern Turkey through Syria to Egypt (also including Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan). The group’s stated goal is to restore an Islamic state, or caliphate, in this entire area.
The standard English term for this broad territory is “the Levant.” Therefore, AP’s translation of the group’s name is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
ISIS or ISIL is also sometimes referred to as DAIISH, which may be more accurate because it is closer to the Arabic name for this organization, but few in the English-speaking world use DAIISH.

So, is Trump correct that President Obama only uses ISIL to annoy people. No. ISIL is more accurate than ISIS, but does Donald Trump know any of this information?

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