Indigenous passports assert self-determination in Ecuador

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On October 12, 2015, the day of Indigenous Resistance, Carlos Pérez Guartambel entered Ecuador with a Kichwa passport. It caused confusion for Immigration authorities who said “We have never seen such a passport before.” Not long after, they determined…

Source: SPIEGEL ONLINE

Then there was the man who called Dorothea Moesch, a local SPD politician in Dortmund, late in the evening on June 30. “We’re going to get you,” he threatened. “We’re at your door.”

Another local SPD politician in Hesse, district administrator Erich Pipa, has been similarly threatened. “We can have you taken out at any time,” he was informed in a letter.

And in Bernau in the eastern state of Brandenburg, graffiti scrawled on the wall of a warehouse namechecking the local mayor reads, “First Henriette Reker (the mayoral candidate stabbed in Cologne last weekend), next André Stahl.”

These are but a few examples — four politicians who have taken a stand, and, if the threats are to be taken seriously, may now need to fear for their lives. Kutschaty fell into the crosshairs for saying, “Pegida is not about protecting the Western world, it’s about its demise.” Moesch, for her part, attracted ire because she organized a protest against right-wing extremism. Pipa became the target of hatred because he was recently awarded a Federal Cross of Merit, Germany’s highest civilian honor, for his longtime lobbying work on behalf of refugees. Finally, Stahl was the subject of denigration because of his public declaration that he wants refugees to feel welcome in his city.

So far, none of them have scaled back their political work. They all still say it’s more important than ever. But since the knife attack against Reker last Saturday on the eve of her election as mayor of Cologne, they can no longer feel entirely safe. District administrator Pipa is wondering whether he should take police advice and wear a bullet-proof vest.

Sweden school killer fueled by ′racist motives′ | News | DW.COM | 23.10.2015

The motives behind a 21-year-old sword-wielding attacker who killed two people and wounded two others at a school in Sweden became clearer on Friday as media reports began to describe a background of xenophobia and racism. Police sources had already told the press after the incident on Thursday that they were investigating a “political motive.””We are convinced that the assailant was driven by racist motives when he carried out the act,” police chief Niclas Hallgren told Swedish radio.”We have reached this conclusion based on what we found when we searched his apartment and his behavior during the act, and also on the basis of how he selected his victims.”Earlier reports by Swedish news also claimed the assailant had a YouTube channel in which he glorified Hitler and spoke critically of Islam and immigration to Sweden.

Source: Sweden school killer fueled by ′racist motives′ | News | DW.COM | 23.10.2015

′Every dark skin in Israel is now a target′ | Middle East | DW.COM | 23.10.2015

a recent study has found that about 40 percent of the imprisoned minors in the country are Ethiopians, despite their small part in the total population – only 1.6 percent. This is perhaps not a shocking revelation; however, in a country which is already a patchwork of so many different ethnic origins, this is a very disturbing escalation.Smaller attacks, resulting in light injuries, hardly make it into the mainstream news, and thus dozens of racial incidents remain within the social media sphere, or at the very best appear as a short sentence on news tickers.Two weeks ago, a 22-year-old Israeli Jew from the northern town of Kiryat Ata stabbed another Israeli because he thought his victim was an Arab. Unlike the times when the assailant was Palestinian, this time Haifa Magistrate’s Court placed a gag order on revealing the attacker’s name and other identifiers at the request of his attorney.

Source: ′Every dark skin in Israel is now a target′ | Middle East | DW.COM | 23.10.2015

A Whiff of Intrigue as Vatican Disputes ‘Unfounded’ Report on Pope Francis’ Health – The New York Times

Francis, who has appeared determined to shake up the church, has faced resistance from some bishops, 13 of whom signed a letter to him, leaked last week, saying that he was trying to manipulate the synod’s outcome in his favor. The timing of the report, on the heels of the leaked letter, has given rise to theories that opponents of Francis’ agenda are working to undermine his papacy by sowing doubt about his health.Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Thursday that he feared that the article was part of a well-planned “apocalyptic strategy” against Francis by conservatives who want to “discredit the one who holds the power” and “destabilize him.” Archbishop Fernández, a close friend of Francis’ from Argentina, was among the bishops chosen by Francis to attend the synod.The Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, has issued three rebuttals since the tumor article was published, calling the reports “gravely irresponsible and unworthy of attention.”

Source: A Whiff of Intrigue as Vatican Disputes ‘Unfounded’ Report on Pope Francis’ Health – The New York Times