Monday, February 04, 2008

Whitehall to Whitewash Islamic Extremism and the Jihad

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Banner of Jihad courtesy of Google Images

THE GUARDIAN: Phrasebook designed to avoid blaming Muslims for extremism

A new counter-terrorism phrasebook has been drawn up within Whitehall to advise civil servants on how to talk to Muslim communities about the nature of the terror threat without implying they are specifically to blame.

Reflecting the government's decision to abandon the "aggressive rhetoric" of the so-called war on terror, the guide tells civil servants not to use terms such as Islamist extremism or jihadi-fundamentalist but instead to refer to violent extremism and criminal murderers or thugs to avoid any implication that there is an explicit link between Islam and terrorism.

It warns those engaged in counter-terrorist work that talk of a struggle for values or a battle of ideas is often heard as a "confrontation/clash between civilisations/cultures". Instead it suggests that talking about the idea of shared values works much more effectively. Whitehall draws up new rules on language of terror >>> By Alan Travis, home affairs editor

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