The Canadian government has announced its decision to no longer refer to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS) by its name and will instead call the group by the Arabic acronym Daesh. According to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, the Islamic State “is neither Islamic nor a state,” and so will be referred to as Daesh. The minister revealed the change in its 2016 Public Report on the Terrorist Threat to Canada,
in which he introduced the new title for the terror group. Global Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defence have also said they will adopt the title Daesh to refer to the group. The term Daesh, forbidden by the Islamic Caliphate within its own territory, is often used by Arabic speakers and comes from the group’s Arabic acronym, though some translations mean to tread underfoot or crush. READ MORE
