As calls for a Palestinian state grow louder in Ramallah, is this a defining time for the state of Israel?

In Ramallah in the West Bank, the crowds are gathering ahead of a United Nations meeting in New York where the sticky problem of Israel & Palestinian independence is to be discussed. Their hope is that a Palestinian delegation visiting the UN this Friday can garner enough support (a two thirds majority) to put enough pressure on the United States and Israel to accept that Palestine should be allowed to gain autonomy. The likelihood is that this majority can be achieved at the UN, but crucially the US and Israel will almost certainly vote against it, potentially causing an almighty split, and plunging the region into a new wave of conflict & violence caused by disaffection with the whole process. How do the charts look?

The Palestinian chart formed on 15th November 1988 at 01.40 am in Jerusalem is picking a conjunction that is fuelling this uprising, Uranus conjunct to natal Mars. Looking at the natal chart, Mars sits in the Palestinian 7th house of relationships, the Palestinians have always been associated with violence and the fight for freedom, with Hamas and the PLO. Now the planet of freedom and independence, Uranus is conjunct to that reactionary Mars. Transiting Mars is now trine this connection and passing through confident Leo. The pressure is quickly building and there is direct action asking the World to back a Palestinian nation. Transiting Uranus is also square to natal Saturn, so here is a real bid to put back the barriers (Saturn) to bring about a new order. Uranus through Aquarius on the Palestinian chart rules the 6th house of the ordinary people and Aries ruled by Mars is on the cusp of the 8th house of change, death & underground action. If the people calling for change don’t get their way then the ramifications are clear. Uranus is a planet of revolution and progress, and if it’s will is not accepted, then violence and shock action will take place.

There are always two sides to this story so it is wise to look at the Israeli angle. The thing to notice is that transiting Saturn is closing in on the Libran Israeli ascendant. Looking back to last time Saturn was in this position, the Lebanon war was just beginning. At that time, Southern Lebanon had become home for 110,000 Palestinian refugees who had fled their homes in Palestine as well as home for the PLO. The war lasted 2 years and dragged in forces from Lebanon and Syria. The fact that Saturn is soon to cross the Ascendant again will have ramifications for Israel and her leaders. Capricorn on the Israeli chart is on the cusp of the 4th house, which amongst other things rules the land of the country. Questions of territory are going to dominate. Saturn hits the ascendant in the first week of November. This is going to be a critical time when decisions are going to be made.

We also have a couple of other interesting oppositions. Transiting Pluto is opposite the Israeli Venus in the 9th house. Pluto can be translated as a blockage or constriction but also transformation, death and destruction and Venus often in Mundane Astrology represents diplomacy. Will diplomacy cause Israel to change it’s tune? Will Israel’s need for control of it’s land and borders block all efforts for a peaceful solution to this problem, leading to violence and death? Venus through Libra rules the Israeli chart, so the way the Israelis use this Pluto energy will be crucial. We also have transiting Neptune opposing the Israeli Mars. Neptune is often associated with mobs, with the collective as well as suffering and confusion, and it rules through Aries on the cusp of the 6th house of the common people and the workers. This explains why people are now on the streets coming together calling for change? When transiting Mars conjoins natal Mars also in the first week of November, the potential for violence and suffering I think is very large. Through all this, Uranus stays very much in square to the Israeli Venus and trine to the Israeli Moon which through Cancer rules the Israeli leadership. This as I see it, is revolution and revolt against the ruling establishment, the lawmakers, coming from within the Israeli borders. I can see the potential of the Palestinian people having had enough of the situation, seeing their hoped dashed and deciding to force the issue themselves, just like their brothers in sisters in Egypt and Libya, Syria and Tunisia.

The whole situation could get very messy, the United States could really isolate itself from the rest of the world in supporting Israel, in the process upsetting the Arab world and ratcheting up tension in the Middle East. Astrological history tells us that violence and conflict does come in cycles, and this time with many of the planets in cardinal signs, direct action is something that will precipitate this time very easily. It is worrying, and one hopes that at the end of this week, the correct decisions to take the heat out of the rising tensions in Palestine and Israel can be found.