#Work Permit South Africa

[credasmigrations]

Want to Start Your Business and Get Investment Visa?

The Business Investment Visa allows for a foreign national to invest, work and set of residence in South Africa upon their successful business investment in the country. This visa is tailored to cater for individuals seeking to open and operate their own business within the country and overtime looking to reside permanently in South Africa.

[fuck-hamas-go-israel]

Ethnic cleansing? Genocide? Apartheid?

Throwing around these buzzwords to describe the Israel-Hamas war because you’ve seen them on social media doesn’t make you right, and it doesn’t make you an activist.

It makes you ignorant, intellectually dishonest, and lazy for parroting biased talking points with no concept about what these terms actually mean.

What is apartheid?

Well, it was first used to describe the political system in South Africa and today’s Namibia whereby racism was institutionalised. This manner of governance meant that clear racial segregation would occur, in a manner that benefited the white race and would actively oppress those who had darker skin.

This meant that there were white-only spaces, white people would get prioritised when it came to education and jobs, and relationships/marriages between white peoples and coloured people were illegal.

Is Israel objectively an apartheid state? There are no laws that actively favour one group over the other. There is a sizeable population of Israeli Arabs that can thrive in the same way as the Israeli Jews can. There are laws against discrimination on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

Palestinians from Gaza are allowed to work in Israel through a work permit system. There are about 150,000 Palestinians working in Israel, most of which live in Israel and some come from Gaza/the West Bank. They aren’t denied rights institutionally.

Is it harder to get a job or education in Israel if you’re a Palestinian from Gaza? Sure, because of different governments. It’s like how it’s a lot easier for you to find a job in your own country (in terms of paperwork and bureaucracy) than overseas. But you’re not denied the right to apply.

Of course, if you have a history of violence, a criminal record, or your family has ties to terrorists, then it’ll be a lot harder to get an approved work permit. But that’s not apartheid. That’s common sense, and a regulation practiced by all countries that minimally desire to protect their own population from danger.

Ethnic cleansing and genocide

These two concepts can go hand-in-hand. Ethnic cleansing refers to the mass expulsion or killing of a group of people based on their ethnicity. Similarly, genocide is the purposeful killing of a group of people solely with the intention of annihilating them.

Famous examples? The Holocaust, of course, where the Nazi regime believed in the superiority of the Aryan race and decided to declare genocide on the Jews, Romanis, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, people with “Asian features”, and many many other groups. Anyone who they didn’t think was “pure”.

Their aim was to ensure that the Aryan race propagated without having “impure” blood affecting the bloodlines. They even started a eugenics programme called Lebensborn to ensure that more pure Aryan babies were born.

More recent examples? The Rwandan genocide where the Hutus attempted to wipe out the Tutsis on the basis of ethnicity. They mandated that Tutsis mention their ethnicity on state-issued ID cards in order for the Hutus in power to be able to identify them and then kill them.

Or the Yazidi genocide which happened so recently, in which ISIL killed, raped, and sent thousands of Yazidis into conversion camps on the basis of their ethnicity. They also took Yazidi women as sex slaves and raped and tortured them.

Or the Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine State in Myanmar, and how there was a mass killing and expulsion of them from the country, forcing them to flee to Bangladesh to take refuge, crating the world’s largest refugee camp.

Or how ISIS killed thousands of people from Christian groups in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Libya because of their faith, leading the US, EU, and UK to label this as religious genocide and condemned their actions.

Has Israel been practicing ethnic cleansing and genocide on Palestinians all these years?

Well, the birth rate of the Palestinian population in Gaza, the West Bank, and in Israel has been steadily increasing all these years.

So, no. No ethnic cleansing, no genocide. They are free to have as many children as they desire.

The UN Genocide Convention

The United Nations has 5 actions that constitute genocide.

1. Killing members of a target group

Israel is targeting Hamas officials with the aim of wiping out the terrorist group and ensuring that such a deadly attack on Israeli soil doesn’t happen again. I suppose you could call it genocide against Hamas, but they’re killing Hamas because they’re terrorists, not because they’re Palestinian. Shouldn’t everyone believe in genocide against terrorists?

But look at Black Saturday. Look at Hamas’ rhetoric. They repeatedly call for the annihilation of Israel and genocide of Jews. When will the media start believing what they say, word for word, instead of trying to spin it into “hmm maybe they want to kill all the Jews because they’re freedom fighters!”

War has collateral damage. Of course the innocent civilians don’t deserve to suffer just because of the actions of their government, but there have been warnings given to the Palestinian civilians prior to Israel striking the areas. There are consequences of attacking a country first, and then having that country attack you back.

2. Causing people of the group serious bodily or mental harm

The UN refers to sexual violence as the prime example of non-fatal harm.

Sexual violence has occurred. Hamas have kidnapped and raped women and even paraded the bodies of half-naked women around. But I f Israel had done the same, it’ll be the first thing appearing on everyone’s BBC push notifications (without even being confirmed as true).

3. Imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group

Many people refer to the blockade that Israel imposed around the Gaza Strip as an example of this.

This blockade was imposed by both Israel and Egypt in 2005. Its aim was to prevent smuggling of weapons into Gaza, and isolate the reign of Hamas to the region. This was to ensure the safety of Israel and Egypt.

Did this blockade pose serious challenges to the Gazan civilians? Of course. But that’s a consequence of having a terrorist government. If you have a terrorist group running your country, don’t be surprised if neighbouring countries are extra careful about who or what they allow in or out of the borders.

Many authorities from other Arab nations have also expressed approval of Egypt’s border restrictions, and even encouraged Egypt to flood the terror tunnels that Hamas has dug under the city. As a side note, other Arab nations have not historically been very kind or welcoming to Palestinians. Syria has killed over 4000 Palestinians, and many Arab countries are now refusing any refuge for Palestinians. But no one cares about that because it doesn’t make Israel look bad. All they do now is use the images of dead Palestinians under the hands of Syria and reuse them to propagate fake news.

The blockade has been labelled as a human rights violation because of collective punishment. Many humanitarian organisations believe that the blockade has caused the Palestinian civilians disproportionate harm.

Contrary to popular belief, Israel isn’t disallowing humanitarian aid from coming through the borders. Fuel, food, hygiene products, clothes, and shoes have been coming through the borders regularly for years. The Gaza Strip also has electricity and internet access and water.

Do all these items reach the Palestinian civilians? Well, there has been evidence that Hamas has been intercepting a lot of the supplies sent by humanitarian groups. This is not surprising since the UNRWA tweeted that Hamas has stole fuel from hospitals in Gaza in order to launch more rockets at Israel (but quickly deleted it after realising that it goes against their agenda to paint Hamas in a bad light.) In addition, the returned hostages have mentioned that there are many aid supplies hidden in the terror tunnels by Hamas. Instead of giving them to the civilians, they are hoarding it for themselves.

There has also been video evidence that some people are reselling these aid items in stores at exorbitant prices in order to turn profits. This has been well-documented for the last 10 years.

Is blockading the region to mitigate terrorism a disproportionate response? Well, it’s like asking if heightened security and stricter border control at airports is a disproportionate response after 9/11. Is being cautious and worrying about the security of your country an irrational reaction to the constant threat of terrorism?

4. Preventing births

Gaza’s population growth rate per annum is about 1.99%, which is the 39th highest in the world! Their population is allowed to propagate freely.

Israel isn’t preventing births of Palestinian babies.

5. Forcibly transferring children out of the group

No, Israel hasn’t been taking Palestinian children and forcing them to convert/keeping young Palestinian girls as sex slaves. Like I said, if this was truly happening, all the news outlets would be so quick to publish the story before verifying it.

Can we trust the UN Genocide standards?

The UN is known for corruption and have been exploiting the Palestinian people by selling them the humanitarian supplies instead of distributing them for free, which they should because these supplies literally are donations.

The UN also has differing standards of what they would label as genocide. For example, they refuse to call what China is doing to the Uyghurs in Xinjiang as genocide, even though the situation does fit many of their own criteria.

Hence, to all of you out there overusing these terms without knowing what they mean, make up your own mind about things. No one can force you to believe anything and no one can force you to change your mind.

But at the very least, do your due diligence and educate yourself before spouting tired buzzwords. Repeating misinformation doesn’t help anyone and can be very harmful.

[hindahoney]

How do you respond to people calling Israel an “apartheid ethnostate” ?

Block them and move on. I don't argue with antisemites. They've obviously never been to Israel to see it for themselves so they have no idea what they're talking about.

Israel is not an apartheid state, and people throw that word around as if they know what it means. They're all just repeating the same shit they've heard from Twitter. The term apartheid was used for South Africa, which prevented certain racial groups access to work and representation within the judicial and political systems, relegated them to inferior living and educational conditions, and controlled essentially every aspect and opportunity of their lives.

There are currently 10 Arab sitting members of knesset (if you don't know what that is, think of it like Israel's Congress), and there have been many former members as well. They're anything from Muslim, Christian, Druze, to Bedouin. The judge who prosecuted Israel's former PM is Arab. There are paths to citizenship for Palestinians, and Israel approves 14,000 permits to live and work from specifically Gaza every year. 20% of Israel's population are Arab, the majority of which identify as Palestinian by nationality and Israeli by citizenship. They're given the same rights as Jewish citizens of Israel, which cannot be said for the vast majority of Palestinians living in every single other Arab nation, who can typically only gain citizenship through marriage. Even their descendants who are born in these countries are not given citizenship, which prevents them from being able to work many jobs, leave the refugee camps, and buy property. Israel is the only country in the middle east that will give Palestinians a proper path to citizenship and thus quality of life outside of a refugee camp. They work and go to school alongside every other Israeli citizen. They also give automatic citizenship to any child born to an Israeli citizen, so if a non-citizen Palestinian were to have a child with a citizen, their child would still be an Israeli citizen.

None of that would be possible if Israel was an "apartheid" state. They would not be able to form their own political parties, much less participate in any form of government at all, would be made to go to separate schools, and ride separate public transportation, which does not happen in Israel. I'm not denying that Israel has issues with discrimination, but every other nation on the planet does too and they're not called apartheid.

Israel is under no obligation to Palestinians living under separate autonomous governments. Hamas is the government for Gaza, and Palestinian Authority is the government for the West Bank.

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

Today, two Palestinian terrorists from the city of Hevron had carried out a combined, multi-scene terrorist attack in the city of Ra'anana, killing one woman in her 70's and wounding at least 17 more people. The exact details are still being investigated, but the two terrorists are said to be from one family, 24 and 44 years old, they were denied a work permit in Israel due to terrorist activity in the past, but someone in Ra'anana agreed to hire them illegally. They have both been arrested. The combined method they used was a stabbing and vehicular terrorist attack, they stabbed people, stole the first car, used it to run people over until they crashed it, then they stole a second, then a third car, and continued ramming into people across several streets, before they were stopped. 7 of the injured are reportedly kids, and at least 3 are seriously wounded.

As 136 hostages are still held captive in Gaza, 100 days after Oct 7, we got some data on the treatment of those released roughly 50 days ago: 85 are still under a nurse's supervision, 2 are still hospitalized, 54 are receiving mental health treatment of one type or another, only 18 have returned home, all the rest are still displaced, out of 40 kidnapped kids, 38 were released, but only 21 have returned to the education system, some in their own schools, some in schools improvised for their evacuated community.

In Turkey, an Israeli soccer player, Sagiv Jehezkel, who plays for a local team, scored a goal for it, and raised his hand, revealing to the cameras that on his bandage, he wrote "100 days," drew the Star of David, and added the date of Oct 7. It's obviously a gesture to the Israeli victims of Hamas, the ones murdered during or hurt by the massacre, and the ones still held in captivity.

For this, Sagiv was condemned by the Turkish Football Association, suspended from his team, which annoounced he'd be fired, and then he was ARRESTED and interrogated by Turkish police. For making a humane gesture to honor his country's victims. This is how Sagiv was portrayed in an antisemitic Turkish cartoon, with blood dripping from his lips, evoking the antisemitic image of the Jews who feed on the blood of non-Jewish kids:

Sagiv has been released after an appearance at court, and flown back to Israel immediately, but the head of the Israel Football Association said they're still worried for 2 more Israeli soccer players and 2 Israeli basketballers, who are currently playing for Turkish teams.

Shabak, the Israeli equivalent of the FBI (also sometimes referred to in English as Shin Beit), has confirmed today that Iran is operating social media platforms in Israel, that allow it to harass the families of the Israeli hostages, and Israeli security forces (for example, by exposing their addresses, or sending them flower bouquets with offensive messages). The Islamist regime of Iran is also using these to collect from surveys personal info on Israeli citizens.

I wanna share with you this screenshot from the article, as a reminder that just because someone says online that they're Jewish, or puts "Jewish" in their account name, doesn't make it so.

The chief rabbi of South Africa, Rabbi Warren Goldstein, in protest of his country's decision to file a false lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice, has changed the customary prayer for the well being of the country. He said: "This government is on the wrong side of history. Its support of Iran and its proxies - Hamas and Hezbollah - encourages a global Jihad,and harms Jews and innocent people worldwide. It's impossible to pray for such a government."

This is 36 years old Osama Abu Assa.

He was a Bedouin, from the village of Tel Sheva. On Oct 7, he was at the Nova music festival, and one of about 367 people who were murdered there. I got to hear several people talking about what a huge heart Osama had, how he was all about giving to others and helping people. May his memory be a blessing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[reasonsforhope]

YES, PLASTIC BAG BANS HELP PREVENT POLLUTION REALLY WELL

"Plastic bags are everywhere - littering our streets, clogging up our rivers, and choking wildlife in the ocean.

But after years of campaigning from environmental groups, many places have banned them entirely.

Over 100 countries now have a full or partial ban on single-use plastic bags. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of public policies intended to phase out plastic carryout bags tripled.

The results of such tough rules are starting to show.

What is a plastic bag ban?

A plastic bag ban is a law that restricts the use of lightweight plastic bags in shops. Sometimes they are totally banned, and sometimes consumers have to pay a fee to buy them.

The bans often only apply to thin plastic bags, with thicker, reusable ones still available for purchase.

Bangladesh became the first country to introduce a ban on plastic bags back in 2002.

Such total bans are common throughout Africa and Asia. These areas import much of the Global North’s ‘recyclable’ rubbish and so face the consequences of plastic mismanagement more acutely.

In addition to plastic bags, many countries ban other types of single-use plastic like in the EU which has got rid of single use cutlery, straws, balloon sticks, and coffee buds.

Which European countries use the most plastic bags?

In Europe, 18 countries have imposed bans on thin plastic bags - including France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, and Albania.

A further 23 countries require consumers to pay a fee. Two more - Switzerland and Norway - allow the plastic industry to impose a ‘voluntary charge’ on the use of the bags.

Plastic bag consumption is highest in the Baltic and Nordic countries, Eurostat data from 2019 reveals. Latvia (284 bags per person, per year) and Lithuania (332) consumed far more plastic bags than any other European country. This could change, however as from 2025, Latvian shops will no longer be permitted to give away free plastic bags. A similar prohibition will come into force in Lithuania this year.

The lowest plastic bag usage can be found in Portugal (8), Belgium (17) and Poland (23).  Portugal banned the bags in 2021, two years after Poland. [Note: To be clear, that is 8 plastic bags per person per year! Way lower than I thought was currently possible!]

Do plastic bag bans work?

Plastic bag bans have so far been highly successful. A ban on thin plastic bags in California reduced consumption by 71.5 per cent.

Research shows that taxes work too. According to a 2019 review of existing studies, levies and taxes led to a 66 per cent reduction in usage in Denmark, more than 90 per cent in Ireland, between 74 and 90 per cent in South Africa, Belgium, Hong Kong, Washington D.C., Santa Barbara, the UK and Portugal, and around 50 per cent in Botswana and China.

And the impact is visible on the ground too.

At a 2022 annual beach clean in New Jersey, US - where a ban was recently introduced - the number of plastic bags collected dropped 37 per cent on the previous year. Straws and takeaway containers dropped by a similar amount.

“It’s really, really encouraging to see those numbers trending down for the bags, straws, and foam containers,” said Clean Ocean Action Executive Director Cindy Zipf. Clean Ocean Action is a charity that is instrumental in organising the beach clean."

-via EuroNews.Green, 4/5/23

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Yale Environment 360:

For nearly a decade, Nonhle Mbuthuma has traveled with a bodyguard. The founder of the Amadiba Crisis Committee — a local group formed to fight a proposed titanium mine along South Africa’s Wild Coast — Mbuthuma has long had the support of many in rural Pondoland’s Xolobeni community. But opponents have demonized her as an arch enemy of all economic development, and some have been encouraged to believe that if Mbuthuma “disappeared,” they would get rich.

Eight years ago, Mbuthuma’s activist colleague Sikhosiphi “Bazooka” Rhadebe, who opposed the mine, was shot dead outside his home by two men dressed as police officers. (Neither assailant has been caught.) Mbuthuma was also a target that day. Amadiba succeeded in halting construction of the mine, and Mbuthuma, 46, has continued working to protect this highly biodiverse region and the traditional culture of the Mpondo people.

This week, Mbuthuma, and her colleague Sinegugu Zukulu, won a Goldman Environmental Prize for their recent efforts to prevent Shell Oil from prospecting along the Wild Coast. As the activist headed to San Francisco to pick up her award, she spoke via Zoom with Yale Environment 360 about Pondoland, plans for its future development, and continuing threats to her life.

Yale Environment 360: Tell me about your struggle with Shell Oil.

Nonhle Mbuthuma: When we heard in late 2021 that Shell wanted to do seismic blasting off the coast, it was like someone put a bomb to our chest. These waters are precious, with rich ocean currents and reefs feeding whale calving grounds and fisheries. That water is part of us. We have cooperatives that do environmental fishing, using rods rather than nets that wipe out everything. But the ocean is also a sacred place. According to our traditions, our ancestors reside in the ocean. We have a right under our country’s constitution to practice our culture, and that requires protecting our waters. So we decided to fight in the courts.

The government had already given Shell permission to start seismic blasting. Shell is a big company with a lot of money, but we said that they are not bigger than our livelihoods and culture. We mobilized our communities to collect information to explain why the ocean is so important to us. We were backed by protests all over the country.

Even as the surveying began, the high court ruled in our favor. The judges said the permit to do the surveys had been granted unlawfully because the government had not considered the impact on our livelihoods and culture and because Shell did not consult the community, which is a requirement of our constitution. But Shell and the government have decided to appeal the judgment.

[erebusvincent]

What is ‘state capture’?

More accurately, Musk’s siege amounts to a form of “state capture”. This refers to:

“the appropriation of state resources by political actors for their own ends: either private or political.”

By this logic, Musk’s aim could be to capture different pieces of the US government and turn the state into a tool for wealth extraction.

State capture is a relatively simple but extremely destructive process. This is how it has played out in countries like Indonesia, Hungary, Nigeria, Russia, Sri Lanka and South Africa (Musk’s birthplace):

First, political and corporate elites gain control of formal institutions, information systems and bureaucratic policy-making processes.

Then, they use this power to apply rules selectively, make biased decisions and allocate resources based on private interests (rather than the public good).

In captured states, strongman leaders often use economic policy and regulatory decisions to reward their political friends. For instance, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Russian President Vladimir Putin and former South African President Jacob Zuma have helped their allies by:

making government anti-trust decisions

issuing permits and licenses

awarding government contracts and concessions

waiving regulations or tariffs

conferring tax exempt status.

State capture is fundamentally a predatory process.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

A Victim By Any Other Name Would Stink. by u/Apprehensive-Year513

A Victim By Any Other Name Would Stink. Schadenfreude a victim. Harry and Meghan sure are victims of quite a lot. The Royal FamilyThe Markle FamilyThe British Press The American PressThe British PeopleThe Palace HR Being the SpareCamerasFlying into LondonThe wedding guest list of who they could and couldn't inviteBeing too trusting with The Cut magazineSpotify’s red tape Deal or No DealJason KnaufGenetic PainRAVECNot being King when William will beNot being Queen when Catherine will beWearing colorsNeeding to take private flightsNeeding to find freedom on a freedom flight Needing to buy a mansion Needing to sign lucrative media dealsThe amount of sausages served for breakfastHalf of a room shared with William in a castleSouth ParkFamily GuyThe Netflix director who quitThe Palace staff who quitThe Archewell staff who quitThe bullying allegationsThe children's show Pearl being cancelledCatherine not wanting to hug MeghanCatherine not stroking Meghan’s egoWilliam and Catherine formally introducing themselves to MeghanWilliam and Catherine’s weddingWilliam defending the Palace staffNeeding to learn the British National AnthemNeeding to learn how to curtesyBeing offered royal training but not accepting itSupposedly being locked in the Palace not permitted to leaveNottingham CottageBridesmaid's dresses Who made who cryTheir wedding they called a “spectacle”Poverty and violence inflicted people not asking if she was okay A fire in South Africa that didn't happenNeeding to continue royal duties after a fire that didn't happenA car chase in New York that didn't happenPeople not believing that car chase didn’t happen The paparazzi they call on themselvesA half in, half out arrangement being rejectedHRH and patronages being strippedBeing told “no” Others standing up to themBeing the only two who married for loveA dog bowlThe supposed unsafe UK they need top level security for to visit The First Amendment Disproven online botsWilliam being awarded more money for phone hackingNot being allowed access to tiaras outside of protocolCharles not funding the independent lives they said they wantedTaxpayer funded security being removed because of the independency they said they wantedBeing called out for lying in courtThe way titles work and how they are givenCatherine's lipglossDish soap commercials Saying the Royal Family welcomed MeghanPhone calls that did or did not happenInvitations that were or were not extendedYouTubers exposing themBeing so popular and likedBeing so unpopular and dislikedPeople being jealous of themPeople debunking their liesOthers not making exceptions for them such as titles and press rebuttals Others not being impressed with themTheir own words and statements which they backtrack onPeople not talking about racePeople talking about raceThe PandemicSocial media comments which they say they don't readPeople criticizing their website Everyone being out to get themThe Wales children who they want to mentorPrince Phillip's illness and subsequent passingQueen Elizabeth's passing and subsequent funeralBeing asked normal questions of what unborn babies would look likeBeing kicked out of FrogmoreThe Royals, who they disparaged, not wanting to be around themA Christmas card they releasedFamily members not answering their phone calls Not knowing about Catherine's illnessAll of their projects flopping or receiving negative scrutiny And most of all… themselves. They do themselves no favors. They are the architects of their own misfortune. These are two people who parade around as if they are the happiest, most in love couple who ever loved ever. But they are the most miserable pair. Safe to say, they are their own worst enemy. post link: https://ift.tt/X69A4WC author: Apprehensive-Year513 submitted: May 07, 2024 at 03:25PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[tasmiq]

Jumu'ah Sohbet: 15 November 2024

As you know, your Ammu has been busy with purposeful reconnection with the art world. She constantly yearns Allah's touch above all, by yearning His ability to enact goodness: Ya Muqtadir Ya Qadir Ya Nafi. In that midst, we got a Saturday Sohbet (spiritual conversation), which struck the following points:

Pictured above is her watercolour painting as a return of loving gratitude for the way that they helped us.

#1. Our Shaykh Mir of Tanzania reflected on a Saturday Sohbet that for us Sufis, our quest is to know Allah in order to attain peace, bliss, and happiness. The emotion of peace is undeniable, but I was intrigued by his addition of bliss and happiness. When we know that when the road of life goes deeper, it simultaneously gets harder and harder. Yet with increased Sufi consciousness, just as the peace is undeniable, the emotions of bliss and happiness are a permitted, spiritual byproduct!

He recounted that when there's Divine communion through prayers, fasting, or supererogatory prayers, it can even lead to ecstasy. However, beyond these, the level of Aqim es-salaat (Connections to the Divine) that we're trying to reach is to see with the Divine eye and to always be in the presence of, his tender reference, the Divine Lord. However, our personalities, identity, fears, and desires obscure that, which is counterintuitive to worldly notions of attaining "self-realisation." This is where our beloved Murshid (Spiritual guide / teacher) Shaykh Taner's hikma (wisdom) struck him, who said:

"Because you are incomplete, you have an identity. If you were complete, you would have no identity."

#2. Shaykh Mir recounted that us Sufis are told by our spiritual guides to do the Zikr of Allah, our Wazifa (daily assignment from the Qur'an) to ensure our spiritual sustenance, a big word for our basic survival. That is why you kids often see your Abbu and Ammu immersed in their tasbih (prayer beads), that as babies you would sweetly refer to as "tasmis" 😄 It is like our everyday food and water, see.

There are particular feelings when we repeat particular names of Allah where there is automatically an understanding of our imminent death, which includes the emotion behind that name of Allah and being absorbed by it. A sound can be heard from one's chest as we work on establishing Aqim es-salaat in our daily activities, Rabita (heartfelt spiritual connection) and Zikrs definitely help our communion. The Zikr resonates continuously and deeply, we as Sufis, are meant to establish that awareness of the Divine as the One within us. This is not the distant One in heaven, or the punishing One in hell, but it is the One consciousness that exists in everything! It is the One who gives life to everything that we see or observe. The Divine light or Source in it keeps everything moving. Towards the end of his haal (temporary state of consciousness), he declared:

"We must know the Unknowable through the path of knowing oneself!"

How mystical is that in relation to Shaykh Taner's quote 😅 In other words, only when we abandon our worldly pursuit of an identity and are incomplete, do we begin completing ourselves with Allah's identity, that is within us!

#3. Through Shaykh Mirs' reflection on the interaction of Khidr AS and Musa AS, who was told, 'Do not ask what I am doing because you will not understand the real reasons behind it!'. I was left appreciating my life's own equivalent, albeit human version, a recovering cigarette-smoking and caffeine addict, vegetarian, and occasionally dark yet witty employer. Who out of empathetic understanding would give his dogs food with meat in it 😅 Well I realised how this humble giant, who even built one of Oprah Winfrey's boarding schools for underprivileged girls in South Africa, has absolutely no airs! He had guided me from my architecture internship with him after his thunderous applause at an architectural forum where I cheekily called out the contradictions of the gentrification of a former poor and neglected area.

Subsequently and funnily, he led me out of the architectural fraternity, into studying Development Studies which is the study of poverty and into the NGO sector, by continuing to be the voice of haq (truth) by pointing out the fallacies of the NGO world. I acknowledged him for being my perennial voice of reason, and we both reflected how grateful we were for each other's presence in our lives and the world. Shukran Ya Allah (Divine gratitude)!

In conclusion, we end with gratitude that Ammu's turbulent journey through the vain design world has brought her back to it, with Allah-consciousness:

Subhana'Allah and Shukran Ya Allah (Divine glory and gratitude)!

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Tuesday, October 31st, 2023. It is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 61 days remain until the end of the year.

415: Co-emperors Honorius and Theodosius II issue penalties against Montanists and against any land-owner who permits them to assemble on his property. Montanist meeting places are to be turned over to orthodox churches.

1517: Martin Luther (pictured above) nails a challenge to a debate on the Wittenberg church door. It consists of ninety-five statements, or theses, against the practice of indulgences—theses which he is willing to defend. The theses will be widely distributed and precipitate the Reformation.

1731: Catholic archbishop Leopold von Firmian of Salzburg, Austria, issues an edict expelling all Lutherans from his territory. About twenty thousand people have to leave. Many have nowhere to go and freeze to death in the coming winter.

1754: Provost Acrelius writes to the Consistory of Upsala, requesting the suspension of Rev. John Lidenius from the Swedish ministerial office because he preaches in English.

1772: Thomas and Samuel Green of New Haven publish “A Sermon” by Indian preacher Samson Occum which he had given the month before at the hanging of an Indian man for murder. The sermon becomes wildly successful, going through ten editions in eight years.

1816: Robert Moffat sails for South Africa where he will establish a mission work. Mission leaders had been reluctant to send him, believing he was unqualified. He will become a world-famed mission leader.

1832: George Washington Doane is consecrated Episcopal bishop of a diocese in New Jersey. He will be remembered by Christians for his hymns, especially “Softly Now the Light of Day.”

1871: Vasilii Ivanov is baptized in Tbilisi, Georgia, in the Kura River, an event considered the starting point of the Baptist movement in Azerbaijan, because he will spread the Baptist faith throughout Baku province.

1877: Samuel Schereschewsky is consecrated Anglican Bishop of Shanghai. Developing Parkinson’s disease, he will resign his position, and spend the rest of his life completing a translation of the Bible into Wenli (a Chinese dialect), typing hundreds of pages with the one finger that he could still move.

1879: Death of Jacob Abbott, American Congregationalist author. He wrote many groundbreaking works of children’s fiction, including the instructional Rollo series and the warm Franconia novels.

1920: Baptism of Spetume Florence Njangali in Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Hoima, Uganda. She will become a leader in the effort to obtain theological education for women and their ordination as deaconesses in the Anglican church of Uganda.

1992: Pope John Paul II admits that the Roman Catholic church erred three hundred and sixty years earlier when it condemned Italian astronomer Galileo.

1999: Catholics and Lutherans issue a joint statement on justification in Augsburg, Germany, declaring that “a consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification exists between Lutherans and Catholics.”

2010: Islamic terrorists besiege Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Baghdad, massacring most of the 120 worshipers inside, including a three year old boy who pleaded with them to stop killing.

[kemetic-dreams]

Egypt bans Dutch archaeology team from Saqqara due to museum’s ‘Afrocentric’ exhibition

A team of archaeologists from a Dutch museum has been banned from carrying out excavations in Egypt’s rich Saqqara necropolis, after the museum mounted an exhibition that drew condemnation from Egyptian authorities.

After the opening of “Kemet: Egypt in Hip Hop, Jazz, Soul & Funk,” the National Museum of Antiquities (RMO) in Leiden received an email from the head of foreign missions of the Egyptian Antiquities Service saying that the museum is “falsifying history” with its “Afrocentric” approach, Dutch newspaper NRC reported on Monday.

Wim Weijland, the museum’s managing director, confirmed to CNN via email that the Egyptian authorities have denied the institution a permit for the next excavation season at Saqqara. He also confirmed that the journalist who wrote the NRC article had seen the email from the Egyptian authorities.

A vast burial ground that sits nearly 20 miles south of the capital Cairo, Saqqara is home to Egypt’s oldest pyramid, the pyramid of Djoser, and has been the site of multiple important discoveries in recent years.

The museum has been carrying out annual excavations there for more than 40 years. Its most recent excavation campaign took place earlier this year, between February 19 and March 23.

“The Rijksmuseum van Oudheden has been working at Saqqara since 1975,” Weijland told CNN. “For the upcoming season, the museum has been denied the permit to excavate here.”

Weijland said the reason for the permit’s denial is the “presumed ‘falsifying history’ in the current exhibition,” adding that the museum is trying to “open the dialogue” with the Egyptian authorities about the matter.

Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Weijland went on to say that the aim of the “Kemet” exhibition is “to show and understand the depiction of ancient Egypt and the messages in music by African artists,” as well as to “show what scientific, Egyptological research can tell us about ancient Egypt and Nubia.”

Nubia is an ancient region in northeast Africa that extends from the Nile River valley in Egypt, all the way down to Khartoum in modern-day Sudan. The area was once home to the Nubian Kingdom of Kush, or the “African Pharaohs.”

According to its web page, the exhibition, which opened in April and runs until September 3, “embarks on a journey through music history” and looks at “the influence of ancient Egypt and Nubia…in the works of a multitude of musicians of African descent, including icons of jazz such as Miles Davis and Sun Ra and contemporary artists such as Beyoncé and Rihanna.”

In recent days, the museum’s social media posts about the exhibition were flooded with comments, mostly by Egyptians who deemed it disrespectful. Some commented with photos showing light-skinned ancient Egyptian drawings, next to ones with darker skin tones, which they say the museum is propagating.

In response to the controversy, the museum added a note on its website with further information about the show’s content, background and goals. It also said it would remove offensive or racist comments from its social media platforms.

The museum encouraged visitors to “visit the exhibition and form their own opinions,” saying it “welcomes respectful dialogue on the cultural heritage of Egypt and Nubia.”

This isn’t the first time Egypt has objected to the depiction of its ancient ancestors. It recently criticized the Netflix docuseries “Queen Cleopatra,” which portrays the ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt as a woman of color.

Zahi Hawass, an Egyptologist and former Egyptian minister of antiquities, wrote last month that “no one with even a little education could make a film showing Cleopatra as African

[credasmigrations]

Come and de­lve right into the bustling world of data scientist jobs in South Africa. You'll learn about promising career opportunities, gain some insights into potential salaries, and receive helpful advice­ on visa processes.

[trekwiz]

I'd like feedback on an idea. It's in no way an analogy to anything timely. I promise. 🤞

LGBT people have suffered a lot of oppression over the centuries, including horrific physical torture in every generation. With a surge in homophobia and transphobia worldwide, now more than ever, we need an LGBT homeland.

We have historical ties to ancient Rome--more than many other cultures, we had some freedoms. So we have a deep connection to the land. And it was the Roman Catholics who replaced us, pushed us out of our place in the world. It's only fair that we can come back now.

A large number of my fellow LGBT peers from the US, Canada, UK, and areas throughout the EU could feasibly move there. We could make a stop in South America or Africa to get appropriate military training and arms--how can we create a country of our own without the means of defending it?

After we move to Italy, we'll declare our independence, without any local approval: we're connected to the land, we have more right to it than those who've been living there. And besides, our oppression means we deserve special treatment.

We'll push many of the locals into the Vatican and seal it off from the rest of the world. Catholics are animals, so we may fire across the border now and then to keep them in their place. Definitely control their food, power, and water so we can punish them if they try anything funny.

Some of the locals will be permitted to stay. Mostly allies of course. But since they're not LGBT, we're going to have to restrict their rights. They won't be permitted to govern, and they won't have the same travel rights. We'll make sure our troops give them a hard time, too, so they understand that they're guests on our land.

But I'm just wondering. If the locals we push into the Vatican start fighting back--shooting our people and demanding that we give our land "back" to them--can we claim that our response is self-defense when we bomb their schools and hospitals? Even if it's an escalation of our ongoing aggression against the locals, we have a right to defend ourselves, yes? Everyone knows Catholics are terrorists, so we can't even talk unless you're willing to condemn their actions first.

Of course, if you object to that, you're homophobic and transphobic. Why shouldn't we have a right to a homeland like anyone else?

You just want LGBT people to die; many of us would have to go back to hostile countries that imprison us, and encourage violence against us. It's not safe. You must acknowledge our right to exist as a country in what was once called Italy. It's very troubling if you'd have the audacity to say we don't belong there at all. It's our homeland.

Anyway, what do you think? Is this a viable plan to protect all LGBT people? I think it could work. It would make me very powerful.

[sassypotatoe1]

I put this in the comments on the post I just reblogged calling for an end to the Israeli occupation, but I felt it would work better as a post, so I'm saying it here too.

It's not the same situation exactly, so the solution won't be the same, but it will be similar, and I know people can learn from the perspective of a white south African post apartheid about what ending occupation can look like. Another group of people you can learn from are Zimbabweans, as they successfully returned the land to the natives and ended white occupation in the 90s, though I don't know the specifics and impact afterwards so I won't speak further on it.

Hi, I'm a white south African, and avid anti-racist constantly learning, a journalist and a student of politics, law and ethics. Many people who are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza are reluctant to call for an end to occupation, because in their minds it means mass displacement of Israeli Jews and an influx of political refugees to surrounding countries and Europe.

I'm here to tell you this is unlikely. After apartheid ended in south africa, a huge chunk of white south Africans stuck around, retained their property (though there are ongoing movements to give the land back to the native groups without compensation which is a political nightmare I don't feel like touching on now) and kept living as normal.

The only difference is that black people and other people of color now faced much less violence at the hands of white people, the government and the police system. They were no longer held under a curfew, no longer forced to carry a pass book, no longer forced to use seperate and lower standard infrastructure, no longer forcefully uprooted and moved with no say, and now able to vote, work higher paying jobs, own property outside of "homelands" in white neighborhoods, and treated in the eyes of the new government, new constitution and law as equal citizens to white people.

An affirmative action system called black economic empowerment was instituted to legally ensure companies employ a quota of people of color and women that reflects the population of the country. It has many pitfalls, and hasn't worked well, but I'm of the personal belief that it has more to do with white people clinging to power than any skill issues or racist tropes white people here will tell you are the cause.

A result of the BEE policy was that many wealthy white people or highly skilled and educated white youth got work visas in the west, and later immigrated. The rest that are still here are either here because they believe themselves citizens in their own right because they fought wars to achieve occupation and independence from the British government, or because they want to help fix things.

Some, like myself, hope to eventually immigrate back to our country of origin (a couple generations back mind you), but because European countries no longer grant us ancestral citizenship because we've been here since the 1600s, it would require going through the very long, very expensive process of immigration that anyone else who wants to immigrate to Europe has to go through.

We would have to learn the language of the country we hope to immigrate to, find employment, get a work visa and work permit, aquire housing, get an EU passport, get a driver's license, get health insurance, and a host of other hoops to jump through. Since one euro is worth about 20 rands, this process would cost us 20 times more. Even if the euro and Rand were equal in value, a huge majority of us don't have the money to go through this process, so we're stuck here.

A fair but perhaps not fiscally responsible solution for us would be if Europe paid the south african government reparations, and accepted ancestral citizenship and allowed us passage back to the countries of our ancestors as rightful citizens, at the cost of the European governments.

For Israeli Jews, this would mean staying to help fix things but in a state that allows Palestinians equal rights and access to resources and opportunities, equal governing power, and affirmative action. Those that can't get themselves to accept the state of Palestine and its people as equals will have to leave. Those wealthy enough can immigrate to Europe or north America, and those who aren't should be allowed ancestral citizenship back into the countries their ancestors came from.

Western countries that supported the Israeli occupation then need to pay reperations to Palestine for all the decades of war and occupation that they endorsed. The quicker, more violent solution would be to forcefully eject Israelis from the territory and make them refugees, but it's not what we're calling for right now, at least from my perspective.

South africa has been recovering from apartheid for 30 years, and it would likely take a civil war or another 50 years to get to any sort of stability and agreement, but progress has been made and will continue to be made. The same can happen for Palestine. It will take time, but if the Israeli government relinquish power and end occupation, however that ends up looking like, it can happen, and it's our responsibility as humans with compassion to support Palestine while they try.

[troybeecham]

Today the Church remembers Saint Leocritia, laywoman, of Cordoba, a martyr for the Faith during the Moorish occupation of southern Spain.

Ora pro nobis.

Since the early eighth century, southern Spain was under the rule of the Moors. They were a Muslim people mostly from northern Africa who had invaded the Iberian peninsula, as well as Malta and Sicily. Cordoba in the Andalusia region of south central Spain was their capital. Under this Islamic rule, Christians were surprisingly not forced to convert, but they were highly taxed on all their properties. No disrespect (“blasphemy”) for their founder Mohammed was permitted, and anyone attempting to convert someone to Christianity (“apostasy”) faced the death penalty. Many Christians had moved north for safety, and the Christian population was, therefore, a small one, although Cordoba was one of the largest cities in Europe at the time.


Leocritia was a young woman who was the child of prominent Moorish parents living in Cordoba, born in the 840s AD. In 859 AD, after being taught the tenets of the Faith by a relative, she converted from Islam to Christianity and chose to be baptized. When her parents learned this, they were enraged and locked her in her own home to keep her from any further Christian influence. She wrote to Father Eulogius, a well known priest who had been elected bishop for his tireless work of teaching and evangelization, but who had not yet been installed as bishop at Toledo, asking what she should do. He advised her to be obedient to her parents, as she was a minor, but to look for an opportunity to flee north out of Muslim controlled territory. When she attended a wedding with her family, she saw her opportunity to escape, slipped away unnoticed and found her way to Father Eulogius. He was able to protect her for a time by changing her whereabouts regularly with Christians who shielded her from the Moorish authorities. One day, her location became known, and she and all who had helped her were arrested, including Eulogius. Both Eulogius and Leocritia were flogged and then put in prison, denied food and drink and offered their freedom if they would renounce Christianity. Both refused to abandon the Faith. Eulogius was beheaded on March 11, 859, and Leocritia met the same fate on March 15. Leocritia’s body was discarded into the Guadalquivir River, a river in Cordoba where numerous Christian martyrs before her had also been dumped. The Christian faithful secretly retrieved her remains, which were brought to Oviedo Cathedral about twenty years later. She shares a reliquary there with Eulogius, which can be venerated to this day in northern Spain.


In the years 851 to 859 AD, forty-eight Christians were put to death in Moor-occupied Spain (then known as Al-Andalus), all charged in some way with blasphemy or apostasy. They are collectively known as the Martyrs of Cordoba. Leocritia was beheaded on 15 March 859 AD after imprisonment, starvation, and being scourged, steadfastly refusing to deny Jesus.

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Leocritia triumphed over suffering and was faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember her in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with her the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

[dubaicompanysetupinfo]

Best Budget-Friendly Business Setup Options in Dubai

Dubai is a dream destination for entrepreneurs looking to start their Budget-Friendly Business. With its strategic location, tax-free policies, and growing economy, the city offers a great environment for businesses of all sizes. However, many assume that setting up a business in Dubai is expensive.

The truth is, that there are several affordable business setup options available for entrepreneurs who want to start with minimal investment.

Why Choose Dubai for a Business Setup?

Dubai is one of the top business hubs in the world. Here are some reasons why you should consider setting up your business in Dubai:

Tax Benefits: No personal or corporate income tax.

Global Market Access: Dubai is a gateway to the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Business-Friendly Policies: The government offers many incentives for entrepreneurs.

Modern Infrastructure: Excellent transport, logistics, and communication facilities.

Growing Economy: Strong demand for various products and services.

Top Budget-Friendly Business Setup Options in Dubai

If you want to start a business in Dubai on a budget, here are some affordable options:

1. Freelance Permit

A freelance permit is one of the most affordable business options in Dubai. It is perfect for professionals offering services like writing, designing, marketing, and consulting.

Cost: Starts from AED 7,500 per year.

Where to Apply: Dubai Media City, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Knowledge Park, and other free zones.

Benefits: Work independently, minimal paperwork, and access to coworking spaces.

2. E-Commerce Business

With the rise of online shopping, starting an e-commerce business in Dubai is an excellent option.

Cost: Starts from AED 10,000.

Where to Apply: Dubai CommerCity or other free zones.

Benefits: Low operational costs, access to global markets, and growing demand for online shopping.

3. Consultancy Business

If you have expertise in any field like marketing, finance, or IT, you can start a consultancy firm at a low cost.

Cost: Starts from AED 12,000.

Where to Apply: Free zones such as DMCC, IFZA, or RAKEZ.

Benefits: High-profit margins, flexible work environment, and low overhead expenses.

4. Small Trading Business

Starting a small trading business, such as selling products on Amazon or Noon, is another affordable business idea.

Cost: Starts from AED 15,000.

Where to Apply: Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) or Dubai South Free Zone.

Benefits: Low initial investment, easy registration process, and access to local and international markets.

5. Digital Marketing Agency

The demand for digital marketing services is growing rapidly. If you have skills in SEO, social media, or online advertising, this can be a great business to start.

Cost: Starts from AED 8,000.

Where to Apply: Various free zones like Dubai Internet City.

Benefits: High demand, low setup cost, and the ability to work remotely.

6. Home-Based Business

Dubai allows certain types of home-based businesses, such as baking, arts & crafts, or private tutoring.

Cost: Starts from AED 5,000.

Where to Apply: Department of Economic Development (DED) or free zones.

Benefits: No need for office space, flexible working hours, and low investment.

Steps to Start a Business in Dubai

Starting a business in Dubai is simple. Follow these steps:

Choose a Business Activity: Decide what type of business you want to start.

Select a Business Structure: Options include sole proprietorship, partnership, or LLC.

Choose a Location: Decide between a free zone or mainland setup.

Get Necessary Licenses: Apply for a business license based on your activity.

Register Your Business: Complete the registration process with the relevant authorities.

Open a Business Bank Account: Choose a bank to manage your business transactions.

Start Your Business Operations: Launch your business and begin marketing your services.