Let us parse the phrase 'islamic terrorism'

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Jun 3, 2015 at 02:27

Dear Dr Pipes, if the phrase 'islamic terrorism' is parsed carefully, the objection of politically correct people is not to the word 'terrorism' but is to the word 'islamic'. If we drop the term 'islamic' from 'islamic terrorism' neither BBC nor the UN will spend a split second to oppose it.

Under normal interpretation, 'islamic terrorism' indeed is the right term to describe what these people do because 1) they do it in the name of Islam and 2) they do indeed spread terror. Some other parallel descriptions will be 'hindu caste system' or 'south african apartheid' etc. The right way to muslims to come out from the shadow of this description is to oppose the acts of these terrorists as veemently as possible and in no uncertain terms. For example, if CAIR were to organize candle light vigils in every US city on the nights when a bomb blast kills innocent people in Baghdad or Mumbai or Jerusalem, the term Islamic itrrrorism will lose its meanining instantaneously. The problem is that instead of opposing these acts, a huge section of Islamic intelligentsia starts to dismiss these people by saying that they are not true muslims.

The fact of the matter is that the world terrorism in this context is actually a euphemism. The phrase 'islamic terrorism' will look even more ugly if word terrorism is replaced by 'crimality' or 'murders' or 'destruction'. So, yes, we can keep denying that 'islamic terrorism' exists but the right way to end it is to oppose it in every shape or form that it exists and at every place where it exists.

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