Q: There’s a terrorist group that is sometimes called ISIS. Other times, it’s called ISIL. Why the difference?
—Fred Scanling, Big Canoe
A: The the United Nations, the U.S. State Department and the Associated Press, which sets the rules and style for many media outlets, refer to the Sunni extremists as ISIL, short for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The Levant is an English term used to describe the area that stretches from southern Turkey through Syria to Egypt (which includes Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan), according to the AP.
The Washington Post, the New York Times, the BBC and CNN, among others, use ISIS, short for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The group’s official name is “Al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham,” with the acronym DAIISH, but it’s not used by the English-language media.
Much of the confusion is caused by the word “al-Sham,” which is an old Arabic term for Damascus and the surrounding area, but has come to “denote the area between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates, south of the Taurus Mountains and north of the Arabian desert,” the New York Times reported. Sometimes al-Sham is translated as Greater Syria, but using “Iraq and Syria suggests incorrectly that the group’s aspirations are limited to these two present-day countries,” the AP reported. “We believe (ISIL) is the most accurate translation of the group’s name and reflects its aspirations to rule over a broad swath of the Middle East,” John Daniszewski, AP vice president, said on a blog.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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