A Florida woman who shares the same name as the Islamist militant group commonly known by the acronym ISIS is fed up.
Miami resident Isis Martinez, 38, has launched an online petition demanding that the media stop using the term ISIS, which stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, because people are improperly associating the acronym with her first name. Instead, she argues, the media and others should refer to the group as ISIL, which stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Martinez’s petition, which as of press time had about 1,200 signatures, points out that several governmental organizations employ the ISIL name. In a confessional-style YouTube video, she notes that even the US state department uses ISIL “when referring to these shameful excuses for human beings”.
She also describes in the video how sharing her name with the reviled group affects her. “People’s reactions aren’t improving at all, and I'm getting all sorts of looks,” she says.
Image: Isis Martinez says she is fed up of all the looks she gets because of her name. Photograph: Isis Martinez/Facebook.
