NCCM welcomes Toronto Star’s decision to use “Daesh” instead of the “Islamic State”

Calls on other media outlets and politicians to consider doing the same

(Ottawa – March 3, 2016) The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), a prominent civil liberties and advocacy organization welcomes today’s announcement by the Toronto Star that it will only use the term “Daesh” to describe the terrorist group often referred to as the “Islamic State” or “ISIS” or “ISIL”.

Daesh is the acronym for the long-form Arabic title of the group, al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham.

The Toronto Star made the announcement in today’s issue of the paper.

“These people are a huge multinational gang of killers and rapists — they have no legitimacy as a state and this name change helps emphasize that,” said the Star’s editor-in-chief Michael Cooke, in announcing the change.

The article notes that many politicians around the world have also adopted Daesh to describe the group. The news story also makes reference to NCCM’s recent commentary on the issue which highlighted the “almost immediate spike in anti-Muslim attacks and incidents reported to police” following attacks by those claiming to be acting in the name of Islam.

The NCCM’s Stronger Together Chair Mohammed Hashim also met with the Toronto Star’s publisher John Cruickshank to encourage the change.

“The Toronto Star has shown tremendous leadership in being the first major Canadian media organization to take such a definitive stand about how it refers to the terrorist group,” says Amira Elghawaby, NCCM’s Communications Director. “We call on other media outlets and independent journalists to consider adopting the term Daesh as well. This may lead the way for parliamentarians to do the same.”

Several Members of Parliament indicated they would use the term Daesh if it was more familiar to Canadians. “If the media can start getting (Daesh) in the common dialogue, then we can switch over,” Conservative MP Tony Clement told Global News last December.

The NCCM is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit grassroots advocacy organization. It is a leading voice for Muslim civic engagement and the promotion of human rights.

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