Immigration Japan's anti-immigration debate overlooks complex history with Islam

[thomas]

Japan's current unease over immigration and Islam contrasts with a rather different history. From the Meiji period through Japan's imperial expansion, Japanese officials and political activists sometimes actively courted Muslims, seeing Islam less as a threat than as a possible link to communities across Asia. Much of this interest was strategic rather than driven by religious tolerance. Even so, it reveals a more complicated relationship with Islam than today's debate might suggest.

Read the article here:

Emerging anti-immigration sentiment in Japan obscures a surprising history of strategic engagement with Islam

A false rumor started in the early 20th century that the Japanese emperor would convert to Islam. It helped Japan build alliances with Muslims across Asia.

theconversation.com

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Amazing how much negative views of Islam are now on the internet. They all point out the plan is for Muslims to take over the world and force all into the Islam religion. I guess the good news is , most don't believe it.

 

[mdchachi]

Amazing how much negative views of Islam are now on the internet. They all point out the plan is for Muslims to take over the world and force all into the Islam religion. I guess the good news is , most don't believe it.

Turns out "free speech" has some dangerous aspects when people can spread lies and conspiracy theories deliberately with impunity.

“We made it up”: Ex-Infowars editor says he published lies about Muslims to spread hate

“And for what? Clickbait headlines, YouTube views?” former video editor Josh Owens writes in New York Times essay

www.salon.com

A former Infowars video editor admitted that the outlet fabricated lies about a Muslim community in New York to push host Alex Jones' threats of sharia law in the United States. ...
"The information did not meet our expectations, so we made it up, preying on the vulnerable and feeding the prejudices and fears of Jones's audience," he wrote. "We ignored certain facts, fabricated others and took situations out of context to fit our narrative."
Infowars soon published headlines like "Shariah Law Zones Confirmed in America," "Report: Obama's Terror Cells in the U.S.," and "The Rumors Are True: Shariah Law Is Here!"