Just words? EU searches for correct terms on Islam

By Shada Islam Apr 21, 2006, 17:12 GMT

Brussels - It's maybe just words. But European Union policymakers struggling to build stronger relations with Muslim countries have set themselves a new task: hammering out guidelines which would ban the use of terms considered derogatory to Islam.

The focus is on stopping the bloc's officials and documents from using words which are considered offensive to Muslims or give the impression that Europe's drive against terrorism is specifically aimed at Muslims.

Launched in December last year, the initiative has gained added importance and urgency as the EU struggles to mend relations with Muslim countries following publication earlier this year of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in several European newspapers.

The cartoons, some of which depicted Mohammed as a terrorist, caused outrage in many Muslim countries, leading to violent demonstrations, the deaths of many protesters and attacks on European embassies.

European governments, meanwhile, have also become more aware of the rising frustration of their often marginalised Muslim minorities following last year's riots in French suburbs by disaffected African and Arab youths.

EU officials say that the search for the correct terminology on Islam is part of an ongoing internal debate within the 25-nation bloc on how best to forge deeper ties with Muslim countries - and reach out to the 20 million Muslims living in Europe.

One way of doing so, they say, is to make clear that Europeans do not equate Islam with terrorism but that the Muslim religion is being abusively invoked by extremist groups for their own purposes.

'Our aim is to clarify the EU discourse on Islam and to ensure there is no link made between any specific religion and terrorism,' an EU official told dpa.

'It's about using vocabulary to avoid misunderstandings and misinterpretations,' said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The initiative would stop references to terms like 'Islamic terrorism' and 'fundamentalism' which critics say are often used by EU officials when talking about extremist groups operating in the Muslim world.

The so-called 'non-emotive lexicon for public communication' would also urge officials to be careful when talking about 'Jihad.' Although the term is currently used by some radical organizations in the Islamic world to mean a combat against non-believers, many Muslims say it refers to an internal, spiritual struggle.

EU insiders say the new lexicon will be non-binding but will probably be endorsed by the bloc's leaders when they meet in Brussels in June.

That will not be too soon for people like British member of the European Parliament Sajjad Karim who says EU officials must be more careful when they talk about terrorist groups operating in the Muslim world.

'What we get very often is people in the EU talking about Islamic terrorism when they are in fact talking of violence in the Middle East,' says Karim.

But events in Palestine have little to do with Islam and a lot to do with the political frustration of Palestinian people, he says.

'Similarly, when young French Muslims protested last year, they were reflecting the realities of their lack of integration ... it was not about Islam,' Karim insists.

While waiting to see if politically correct language can help ease current strains between Europe and Muslim countries, EU officials including External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Javier Solana, the bloc's foreign and security policy chief, are doing their own bit to bridge the gulf.

Both Ferrero-Waldner and Solana told EU foreign ministers in Salzburg last month that the EU must work with the United Nations, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference to rebuild trust with Muslim countries.

The paper also said that foreign policy measures must be backed up with tougher domestic European legislation to tackle Islamophobia and build a better dialogue with Muslims in Europe.

These initiatives as well as the new EU lexicon may not be enough to get rid of years of misunderstandings, says Karim. 'But hopefully it will make people sit up and think a bit before they use terms and phrases about Islam,' he says.

© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

URL: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/article_1157323.php/Just_words_EU_searches_for_correct_terms_on_Islam