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The visibility of incidents involving Kurds and the labeling of them as 'terrorists' have fueled online agitation and heightened hate, even among those with no direct connection to the local community.

9 Comments

Takahiro Akedo, an associate professor of sociology at Osaka Metropolitan University and an expert on hate speech. Hate speech online targeting Kurds in Japan has become increasingly visible since the spring and summer of 2023.

© Mainichi Shimbun

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My understanding is that they are some of the least fundamentalist Muslims.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

The Kurdish community in Saitama has know links to the PKK which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey. The Japan Kurdish Culture center and it's leader among others had their assets frozen. They fly PKK flags at events. Why the Kurds are in Japan, a country they share no language, culture or history is a mystery.

The Kurds have genuine grievances with Turkey but Japan does not need the "baggage" that comes with Kurdish refugees.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Why the Kurds are in Japan, a country they share no language, culture or history is a mystery.

No foreigners living in Japan share a language, culture, and history. In the beginning, it's alien to everyone.

There are about 2,000 Kurds.

"Kurdish people arrived in Japan to request refugee status; citing human rights abuses in Turkey and Iraq. Nonetheless, so far none have been successful in their application due to failing to meet refugee status requirements."

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Why exactly has online hate speech increased since the spring and summer of '23?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Mr KiplingToday 08:31 am JST

Perhaps Turkey needs an explanation that a free country is not required to restrict who they welcome as long as they aren't engaged in violence anywhere.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

"Kurdish people arrived in Japan to request refugee status; citing human rights abuses in Turkey and Iraq. Nonetheless, so far none have been successful in their application due to failing to meet refugee status requirements."

If their applications have failed they should be expelled.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

True online attacks on any group of people will result in discriminatory attitudes and actions but at the same time, you live in a country that's not yours and is your host because you're claiming you can't live in your own - better damn well behave yourselves and remind your community to show some respect.

The problem with groups like the Kurds and MEasterners to give only two examples is that when they go to the developed countries with their asylum claims and stay regardless of whether they're given refugee status or not, some of them bring their dysfunctional social patterns like being distrustful of authority to the point of attacking officers of the law when they come in to break up incidents or feuds with other ethnic groups. Kurdish individuals and groups have engaged in violence with Turkish individuals and groups in Japan, for example.

Settling disputes with violence and revenge attacks for insults and perceived insults to their honor is not part of how western societies and East Asian societies like Japan and Singapore operate, for example. The norms of not understanding civic society and acceptable social practices is brought by some to their host countries. It's up to the Kurdish community in Japan and other communities throughout the developed world like them, to fit in with the norms of a civic society with the rule of law. Their own communities have to change if they don't want to be associated with disrespect for their hosts' cultures and inability to fit in with the norms of countries they chose to go to and want assistance including financial from.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Well, the first rule of being a "guests" is not to call your hosts with names, spit on their welcome, telling them to "die".

4 ( +5 / -1 )

In Japan, anti-Kurdish posts, allegedly made by Turkish people using machine translation, saw a surge in anti-Kurdish sentiment beginning in 2023. Kurds there have been receiving death threats and demands for their expulsion.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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