Vol. 80/No. 37      October 3, 2016

 

Letters

 

Need a new subscription
I enjoy reading your articles every week, but I have moved to another prison and no one here has a subscription. Please help me with this situation and I will involve others with your perspective on what’s going on in the world.

A prisoner
Florida

‘Daesh’ a derogatory term?
Why do you keep calling “Daesh” a “derogatory term for Islamic State”? Daesh is simply the acronym of an original Arabic organization or institution, from Daula Islamia fi’Iraq wa Sham.

Al-sham meaning the original historic “greater” Syria stretching from what is now the Turkish border to the Sinai and Gulf of Aqaba or the Red Sea. I can’t see anything derogatory in that.

Lüko Willms
Frankfurt, Germany

Editors note: As an Arabic word, Daesh doesn’t mean anything. Acronyms are not as common in Arabic as in English. The group’s supporters object to its use because it is used as a derogatory term by imperialist government spokespeople and some Arab regimes.  
 
 
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