By the summer of 2015, many Arabs across the Middle East, including most of the regional media, were calling IS by another name, one which encapsulated how repulsive many ordinary people felt the organisation to be – Daesh. It is an acronym of sorts formed from the group’s previous name in Arabic, Dawlat al Islamiya Iraq Wa al Shams, but the reason people tend to use the name is because IS members hate the term. It sounds similar to the verb daes (one who is underhand and sows dissent); it rhymes with negative words such as fahish (a sinner); and best of all for those who despise the
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