All of these names refer the Jihadist group who has taken over parts of Syria and Iraq after announcing a new Islamic government in the area. The organization also affects Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.The group intends to implement the caliphate by means of force, which have been portrayed as major acts of violence and terror, “including public executions, beheadings, crucifixions and other brutal acts” (Sanchez 2015).
Figure taken from ABC Eyewitness News ("ISIS-related events," 2014).
The Islamic State
The terrorist organization currently refers to itself as the Islamic State under the pretense that they, “represent all Muslims everywhere” according to former staffer at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jonah Blank. “They have declared the establishment of a new caliphate […] A universal, legitimate, Islamic rule.” In the Middle East, the group is not widely referred to as the Islamic State, Blank said. However, Western media outlets are beginning to use the term more frequently (NPR Staff, 2015). The name has become a source of propaganda for the Jihadists. “That's a very potent area of propaganda, because ISIS has attracted potentially thousands of foreign fighters, and none of these foreign fighters see themselves as terrorists. They see themselves as knights. They see themselves as mujahedeen. They see themselves as freedom fighters," Blank says. "So they're very interested in fighting for the Islamic State, and they do not regard what they are doing as in any way an act of terrorism” (NPR Staff, 2015).
ISIS
ISIS is an acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria that has become the most common term (NPR Staff, 2014) However, the English translation of Syria comes from the Arabic world Al-Sham which implies “Greater Syria” the organizations intends to form under the Islamic state. This region includes portions of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey (Sanchez, 2015).
ISIL
This acronym has been adopted by the United Nations and the United States government; it differs from ISIS in the translation of the word “al-Sham,” using the Levant rather than Syria, which refers to the same land area implied by Greater Syria. The U.S. refuses to recognize the Jihadists’ plan for the caliphate and believes they intend to include area beyond Iraq and Syria, which makes ISIL a more fitting term according to CNN Global Affairs Correspondent Elise Labott (Sanchez, 2015).
