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This is an excerpt from a larger article written by Philip Lindsay, I highly recommend following the link at the end to continue reading. The highlighted links and artwork are available on the original link :-) 

Leonine Anatomy of the Israel-Gaza Crisis 2014

NOTE: The following section may be controversial for some readers and the author may well be accused of bias, or even anti-Semiticism - a misnomer, as it is both the Arabs and Jews who belong to the Semitic race. For the record, I am neither for or against Israel or the Palestinians, but pro Humanity, right relations, peace and dignity for all.

However, I do have some obvious sympathies for the Palestinians who I regard as the underdog and unjustly treated. I have studied this conflict for a long time and am actively involved in esoteric groups that seek to resolve some of these painful issues for Humanity.

I have also made copious commentaries on Israel's horoscope almost every year since 2002. (Here.) Currently the world is witnessing one of the worst crises in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

In the newsletter for Taurus 2014, there is a commentary, Israel's Dance with Destiny- that detailed the major problem of Israel's Taurus Sun square to Mars in Leo. To keep track of the imminent transits of Saturn and Jupiter in Israel's unfolding destiny, the following table provides a handy guide.

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1. Transiting Saturn in Scorpio square Saturn in Leo is the main transit associated with the current conflict, dubbed by Israel's military as, "Protective Edge" - launched on July 8, when the Moon was in Scorpio, triggering the longer term Saturn in Scorpio transit. The fallout from the Israeli campaign will have long term ramifications because of widespread reaction and anger around the world; this will reach a culmination with Saturn's forthcoming transit over Israel's midheaven, discussed later.

Israel's Saturn in Leo sits on the cusp of the seventh house of relationships, conjunct Moon and Pluto in Leo, sharing the seventh house with problematic Mars. Saturn in Leo has a need for importance and recognition, driving for control of its environment. There can be strong dictatorial and dogmatic attitudes, a stubbornness and rigidity, exacerbated by Saturn's square to the Taurus Sun.

Saturn is a planet intimately associated with the ancient Jehovah, Capricorn and the Jewish people. It is a planet of power, conjunct Pluto, the planet of power, ruling the first ray of Will-Power; placed in Leo, a sign that the first ray passes through. Allied with the Moon in Leo, this triple conjunction is a formidable force, yet also the Achilles Heel of Israel. Here is the pride and prejudice of this nation, the Lion of Judea that may be learning some humility in the not too distant future.

Transiting Saturn in Scorpio brings up the theme of power in this Pluto-ruled sign; also the lower Scorpio themes of revenge, domination, under-handed manipulation, betrayal etc. Hence, transiting Saturn in Scorpio (at the peak of this Gaza crisis), exactly squaring natal Saturn in Leo, brings maximum concentration of the themes of power and directed force.

It's never an easy transit for any entity to go through, individual or national, because one is confronted by all the crystallisations that constitute the Dweller. Saturn creates the structures to live by, the crystallisations that eventuate when those structures become outworn, and ultimately the force that will smash those old patterns.

No, not those structures, you know, the mental ones ...

This Saturn in Scorpio transit has been active since November 2013 and finishes in August 2014. Its last "hit" was further accentuated around July 8, because Saturn was "stationary retrograde"; it had slowed down to an almost complete "stop", in preparation for its stationary phase that preceded Saturn going "direct".

Hence, for the three weeks of relentless exchanges between Israel and Hamas, Saturn was stationary, closely squaring its natal position by only a few minutes of arc; it illustrates the frustration for Israel, trying to contain and control the forces that seek to undermine it. (Transiting Saturn was also squaring Hamas's solar arc Moon-Jupiter in Leo-Taurus.)

Even by the Leo full moon period on August 10, Saturn will not have picked up full speed, to its direct "daily motion", remaining in the same 17th degree of Leo - as it has for the past three weeks. The Sabian Symbol for this degree is, "A woman, the father of her own child", which could be interpreted as Israel the "parent" of the Palestinians, because of its Saturnine authority, its enormous financial, technological and military power, its Goliath to Palestine's David.

The phallic forces of war - "the man's game". 
The anguish of their mothers ... the absence of the feminine.

Indeed, this conflict is a family squabble between the branchraces of the Semitic subrace of the Fifth Rootrace - Arab and Israeli alike; it has ancient, complex and twisted roots, like a troublesome wisdom tooth resisting extraction. From one perspective, Israel's denial of Palestinian freedoms, its lack of generosity and compassion in arriving at an agreement about who lives where, is a failure of the "parent".

Zionism
The ancient, nationalistic pride of Israel's Leo stellium keeps it trapped in the past, because of the Zionist pledge to reclaim Palestine, after 2,000 years of absence. How would this work out in other parts of the world if nations tried these retrospective stunts?; it would simply be not tolerated.

This is one of the greatest sources of Israel's problem, since the Zionist revival of the late 1800's that systematically planned the gradual take-over Palestine from the early 1900's, culminating in 1948 as the state of Israel. Palestine was taken by claiming it was "by divine command", not unlike the aforesaid Piscean leader who claims the authority of the Master. Yet this was one of many fictions created by the right wing Zionists.

This is an important distinction, and reminder - there are many shades of Zionism because of propaganda, confusion and lack of discrimination by Jew and Gentile. The hard core of Zionism has never had the welfare of the Jewish People at heart, nor of Humanity as a whole.

It is a well known fact, of the stranglehold Zionist groups and Israel have upon the US Congress, who only recently, during the horrific bombardment of Palestinian civilians, approved another few hundred million dollars toward Israel's Iron Dome defense system. Why, is Israel broke? Not likely, they receive $3 billion per year from the USA and are already prosperous in their own right, ranking 17th among the world's most economically developed nations.

On the other side of the fence, there are numerous Jewish groups in Israel, USA and around the world who oppose Zionism because of the recognition of what it is - a political ideology that is obsessed with power, money and materialism - plus a scapegoat mentality and emotional bribery that always plays the persecution and Holocaust card. The Zionist groups in the USA, such as the ADL and AIPAC, have extraordinary political influence. Zionism constitutes a major world problem for Humanity.

The following quotation was written at the time Israel was created in 1948, yet it is still most relevant today because of the refined tactical sophistication that Zionist propaganda has effected - especially through its world media domination. In addition, because Israel is currently controlled by the most militant hardline Zionists - who have the backing of their greater organisations and affiliates in the USA, Europe and many other parts of the world like Canada and Australia. Here is the quote:

"The leaders of the Zionist movement of aggression constitute a real danger to world peace and human development and their activities have been endorsed by the expediency policy of the U.S.A. and, in a secondary degree, by Great Britain, under the influence of the U.S.A. 

It is the Zionists who have defied the United Nations, lowered its prestige and made its position both negative and negligible to the world. It is the Zionists who have perpetrated the major act of aggression since the formation of the United Nations, and who were clever enough to gain the endorsement of the United Nations, turning the original "recommendation" of the United Nations into an order. 

The rule of force, of aggression and of territorial conquest by force of arms is demonstrated today by the Zionists in Palestine, as well as the demonstration of the power of money to purchase governments. These activities run counter to all the plans of the spiritual Hierarchy and mark a point of triumph of the forces of evil. 

I am emphasising the activities of these two countries because through the leaders of these groups of aggressive men the forces of evil—dammed back temporarily by the defeat of the evil group which Hitler gathered around him—have again organised their attack on the spiritual development of humanity.

These Forces of Evil work through a triangle of evil, one point of which is to be found in the Zionist Movement in the United States, another in central Europe, and the third in Palestine. Palestine is no longer a Holy Land and should not be so regarded."[8]

Hence, Palestine has become a battleground between the forces of light and darkness, between reason and madness, brutality and compassion, war and peace. With the emphasis upon these distinct pairs of opposites, it is easy to see the role of the Fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict here, the ray that rules over Humanity.

Much of the karma lays with Western nations such as USA and Britain, in not acting when they had the opportunity after WWII. Writing post-Holocaust in 1947, just before Israel was created in 1948, The Tibetan comments:

"The test, as far as the nations are concerned, lies in their willingness to give refuge to the Jews, and such a refuge would have been offered if the partitioning of Palestine had been refused. The unwillingness of the nations to admit the Jews (though many have willingly offered), and particularly the refusal of the United States to admit them, is separative, wrong and based upon political expediency.

The test, as far as the United Nations is concerned, was whether they would endorse partition, and thus perpetuate the spirit of aggression and territorial greed, against which the Forces of Light were arrayed in the last war."[9]

The forces of Zionism were very prominent and successful during this period of the late 1940's when Israel was created - through an immediate war with all its Arab neighbours, hardly a good start for any nation, setting a permanent pattern of trouble:

"... the fight over Palestine—fomented by the Zionists, and not by the Jews as a whole—a fight in which the Zionists prevented the displaced Jewish persons (only 20% of the whole) from discovering how welcome they are in many countries throughout the world; a fight which has greed and not any love of Palestine behind it, and which is governed by financial interests and not by the humanitarian spirit which the Zionists claim and which would force them to accept the offers made by Great Britain, Canada, Chile, Belgium and many other lands."[10]

With the hindsight of history, Israel was an artificial construct of Zionist ideology that abused many rules of right human relations, forcing themselves into the Middle East - and it has been paying the price ever since. It was not a nation that arose naturally and organically like rich cultures elsewhere.

Hamas and Israel's "Terrorism" Excuse

Much of Israel's creation was brought about through the (widely documented) terrorist activities of groups like the Irgun, facts that are conveniently ignored in the current crisis. Both Israel and Western nations like the USA, label Hamas a "terrorist organisation", which it may well be.

However, the hypocrisy of this repeated mantra by world leaders, creates an historical amnesia. Modern media, with its need for instant gratification, fosters an attitude by the general public that will rarely go beyond, "Hamas is firing rockets at us". No context is offered. Israel's Mossad and USA's CIA are well documented as sponsors of (c)overt terrorism, whose aim has been to destabilise the politics of various nations for many decades.

Hence, Hamas is a bastard child whose "mother is its father" - it was originally cultivated and encouraged by Israel. The suppression of Palestinian freedom and parsimonious squabbling over land is only part of the picture, an unfortunate side-effect or, to use a banal phrase, "collateral damage", veiling other contributing factors to this conflict:

"According to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials, beginning in the late 1970's [funding the Muslim Brotherhood from whence Hamas emerged], Tel Aviv gave direct and indirect financial aid to Hamas over a period of years. Israel “aided Hamas directly — the Israelis wanted to use it as a counter-balance to the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization),” said Tony Cordesman, Middle East analyst for the Center for Strategic Studies. Israel’s support for Hamas “was a direct attempt to divide and dilute support for a strong, secular PLO by using a competing religious alternative,” said a former senior CIA official."[11]

Jewish author and academic, Noam Chomsky

Elsewhere, the Wall Street Journal printed a statement in 2009, from an Israeli official,

"Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel’s creation,” says a Tunisian-born Jew [Avner Cohen],who worked in Gaza for more than two decades. Responsible for religious affairs in the region until 1994, Mr. Cohen watched the Islamist movement take shape, muscle aside secular Palestinian rivals - and then morph into what is today Hamas, a militant group that is sworn to Israel’s destruction."

Leaders of Fatah and Hamas: Abbas and Meshal

Ironic. The conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is also complicated by the fact that the two main Palestinian factions - Hamas and Fatah - are at odds with one another. Yet, in April 2014 Fatah and Hamas, "...announced a new reconciliation agreement which would see a unity government formed within five weeks, ahead of a presidential and parliamentary election within six months. ... Benjamin Netanyahu said that world leaders should not rush to recognise the new government, calling Hamas a terrorist organisation that is committed to the destruction of Israel. The Palestinian PM's office issued a statement denouncing Netanyahu's words as intended to continue Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories."[12]

As a rejoinder to Netanyahu's remarks, observers have stated, "Israel is a terrorist organisation that is committed to the destruction of the Palestinians." Several respected commentators concur with the Palestinian PM's view; they believe it is a deliberate ploy by Israel because Fatah have now accepted Hamas, working toward a united front that will have much more leverage with Israel and other Western nations.

It is thought however, that because Israel is pushing for more and more territory, it will not negotiate with "Hamas terrorists", hence will not negotiate with the united Palestinian factions as a whole, perpetuating an endless cycle of violence, with no peace in sight.

Is it really that simple, the Israelis do not want peace because of their hunger for land? Noted Israeli journalist for Haaretz newspaper, Gideon Levy, says in his article, Israel Does Not Want Peace:

"The single most overwhelming item of evidence of Israel’s rejection of peace is, of course, the settlements project. From the dawn of its existence, there has never been a more reliable or more precise litmus test for Israel’s true intentions than this particular enterprise.

In plain words: The builders of settlements want to consolidate the occupation, and those who want to consolidate the occupation do not want peace. That’s the whole story in a nutshell ... it is impossible to accept construction in the territories and the aspiration to peace as mutually coexisting. 

Every act of building in the settlements, every mobile home and every balcony, conveys rejection ... Rejectionism is embedded in Israel’s most primal beliefs. There, at the deepest level, lies the concept that this land is destined for the Jews alone."[13]

This is a good example of Israel's Taurus personality, in its lower expression: acquisitive for land and material goods - reinforcing the existing ancient Jewish stereotype, that has been a source of racial persecution and malignment for thousands of years.

Taurus is the golden calf that the children of Israel fell down before and worshipped in ancient times. Therefore, Israel is doing itself no favours in the eyes of the world by compounding this ancient habit; it affirms a notorious reputation that plays right into the hands of anti-Jewish hate groups; it distorts the picture for a large proportion of the world's Jewish population who are not driven by these ancient habits.

Land-grabbing is based upon fear, greed and the survival themes of sacral centre consciousness. The antidote is of course, the withdrawal of fear into the magnanimity of the fiery heart. If Israel could cultivate a little generosity, its problems would soon evaporate.

Palestinian Loss of Land 1948-2000.

The Palestinians have been manipulated so calculatingly and cunningly, corralled like animals in refugee camps without basic infrastructures. The ironic comparison of the Jewish Warsaw ghetto in WWII has been made many times. When these infrastructures are rebuilt, they have been systematically and periodically vandalised by Israel, bombarded and deliberately wrecked - as in the latest civilian massacres at two UN shelters in Gaza; who can blame the Palestinians from wanting to salvage some self-respect and pride by responding with rockets - crude and ineffective as they may be? Gideon Levy again comments:

"Israel has never, not for a minute, treated the Palestinians as human beings with equal rights. It has never viewed their distress as understandable human and national distress.”[14]

Hatred has bred a deeper hatred. Hamas allegedly teaches children to hate and to kill Jews. (See this shocking short video from Hamas TV.) Both sides must take responsibility for these deplorable developments that will condition future generations; and to stop playing the blame game, something that Israel is well-versed in. Noted Israel-Palestine commentator, Jonathon Cook, says:

"... neither Israelis nor Palestinians can claim to be above a culture of hate. As long as Israel’s belligerent occupation continues, their lives together in one small patch of the Middle East will continue to be predicated on bouts of violent confrontation."[15]

Hamas

Hamas and Khalad Meshal 
Hamas developed from the Muslim Brotherhood, but was really "born" during the first Intifada in 1987: "... a Palestinian uprising [in the Jabalia refugee camp] against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories, which lasted from December 1987 until 1993 ..."[16]

Note the stellium of planets in idealistic Sagittarius, known for its militancy and fundamentalism. However, probably more importantly is the conjunction of Mars and Pluto in Scorpio - the two rulers of this sign are closely conjunct - square to Black Moon in Leo. Here lies Hamas' determination and perseverance - and its ruthlessness in sacrificing its own to achieve its goals. Their hatred and loathing of Israelis has developed from years of manipulation and abuse, domination and control.

A great irony is that Israel who used to be David,
is now Goliath, a complete role reversal from several thousand years ago.

Note also, that this Mars-Pluto conjunction in Scorpio, is in a very close square to Israel's Moon-Pluto conjunction in Leo. If ever there was a clash of ideologies, a clanging of forces related to the past and the collective lower self, there it is!

The current leader of Hamas is Khalad Meshal, a son of Ramallah and smart Gemini physics graduate, who survived a poisoning attempt ordered by Netanyahu through Mossad in 1997.

Khalad Meshal and Binyamin Netanyahu, staring off...

Meshal has Mars in Aquarius opposite Jupiter-Pluto in Leo, T-square to Saturn in late Scorpio, falling upon Israel's Mars in Leo, square its midheaven in Scorpio - amazing astrological synastry. Meshal must be a sharp thorn in Israel's side - tactical, aggressive, militant, with an unbending and resolute will.

Israel and Meshal

Transiting Saturn in Scorpio's Influence Upon Israel
Let us now pick up from the first transit discussed earlier, 
1. Transiting Saturn in Scorpio square Saturn in Leo. 

(Also, see here for a broader discussion of Saturn in Scorpio.)

2. Transiting Saturn in Scorpio opposition Israel's Taurus Sun 
Saturn will soon make its final opposition to Israel's Taurus Sun by October 2014, finishing an eight-month period that began in February 2014. The Sun represents Israel's identity and apart from being the brilliant "mother of illumination", Taurus is known for being fixed and stubborn.

Saturn is a potent agent in the life of the Jewish people. The combination of transiting Saturn opposite the Taurus Sun has evoked some of the worst elements of the Israeli personality, as mentioned earlier - avoiding peace because of the settlement expansions into Palestinian land.

Children on both sides of the conflict are being indoctrinated from a young age.

3. Transiting Saturn conjunct Israel's midheaven and square Mars in Leo
Transiting Saturn goes back and forth across Israel's Mars-ruled, Scorpio midheaven for much of 2015, exactly squaring natal Mars in Leo, in early December 2014 - and then June, July, August, September of 2015, bringing this nation into even greater prominence in the global community.

If Israel has been working diligently at its dharma, then Saturn transiting over its Scorpio midheaven can bring due reward. If not, two things might occur: (1) A huge fall, similar to President Nixon's Watergate, when transiting Pluto crossed his midheaven. (2) A desperate, radical and forceful action, such as resorting to a nuclear exchange of some kind - or trying to start a regional war with someone like Iran - that could lead to a greater war. Israel is believed to have hundreds of nuclear warheads and is the world's fourth largest arms exporter.

Mars rules weaponry of all kinds, we can see its role so clearly as the God of War - as the ruler of the outgoing sixth ray of Devotion and Idealism, the astral body etc.

As Israel's unintegrated Mars rules the ninth house of foreign affairs and is closely square Israel's midheaven, notoriety will most likely prevail for this recalcitrant nation, regarded as becoming a "pariah state".

Indeed, "terrorist state" has been the most recent epithet applied to Israel by several South American countries, recently cutting ties over the latest Gaza crisis. With huge demonstrations occurring in many cities around the world now, the groundswell of public opinion will probably build up to full pressure - when transiting Saturn is aspecting Israel's midheaven, on the dates given above. Here will be an opportunity for the United Nations and other individual nations to build upon this surge, calling Israel to account.

The midheaven angle of the horoscope concerns public perception and Israel has not been endearing itself to the community of nations, having succumbed to significant recent boycotts from companies in Europe and elsewhere. Hence, the economic pressure will no doubt continue, as an humanitarian and moral reminder.

Israel will pass through a burning ground that will only be successfully negotiated if it can surrender to itself; it must drop the ancient siege mentality that has characterised its history for thousands of years; the myth of being the "chosen ones" that has created so much pride and separativeness; it must destroy this ancient thoughtform that imprisons it, whose virulent poison contaminates the entire region.

4. Transiting Mars conjunct Israel's Scorpio midheaven 
This is a short term cycle that will occur in mid September 2014, squaring natal Mars in Leo on September 11 (9/11 anniversary) and hitting the midheaven on September 13; perhaps this transit will provide a preview of the aforementioned longer term Saturn cycle in point #3 above.

Of course, these transits will closely affect Meshal's horoscope and probably raise his public profile. Transiting Mars in Scorpio also signals Hamas' Mars in Scorpio return - during the Leo full moon period, by August 12. Likewise, transiting Mars will transit through Scorpio for the next six weeks, triggering many positions of the fixed cross - for all entities concerned.

Hence, sorry to say, there is a very real possibility of an even greater conflict than the world is already witnessing. The instability created is threatening to spread into a wider regional conflict, with the potential to radicalise more Muslims, increase hatred and usher greater power to groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda.

The solution? Above all, for Israel to truly realise its soul purpose embodied in the Aquarius rising horoscope [17], it must cultivate a magnanimity, a generosity, goodwill and spirit of sharing that couldsee it become a shining example of community and co-operation in the world.

The Aquarian soul ruler is Jupiter, placed in its own sign of Sagittarius in the eleventh house, a perfect placement for it to fulfill this possible destiny. Hence the importance of all the upcoming Jupiter transits.

5) Transiting Jupiter hitting all Israel's Leo planets
The saving grace for the dire line-up of trying transits, will be Jupiter's passage through Leo. Yet, as described previously, Jupiter has the capacity to magnify arrogance and pride. It all depends upon the vehicles of responsiveness and spiritual development of any entity.

Nevertheless, benevolence may prevail - may Mighty Jove bring all parties back to the heart! This transit has multiple hits on all of Israel's Leo placements from August 2014 until August 2015. (See earlier table for dates.) The main danger period will be from early September 2014 to late May 2015.

In light of all the aforesaid, this seems like an almost impossible task, pie in the sky idealism. These transits are however, capable of bringing Israel to the point of making a wise choice. The weight of public opinion will keep the pressure up and circumstances might change.

Shalom, Salaam - Peace.

Phillip Lindsay © 2014.

http://www.esotericastrologer.org/Newsletters/105_Leo2014_JupiterInLeo_Leadership_MarsInScorpio_Israel-Gaza.htm