Nov 2012 Eclipse & the Arab-Israeli Conflict

November 2012 seemed to be dominated by two things – the American presidential elections and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As I wrote in my article on the former, there did seem to be a clear astrological indication that Obama would win, and indeed, he did. For those interested in the details, check out the separate post I wrote on it.

The Palestinian-Israeli crisis seemed to erupt shortly after the solar eclipse in Scorpio on November the 13^th when rockets were fired over the Israeli border by Hamas rebels in Gaza. This was met with an aggressive retaliation by Israel in the form of the assassination of the leader of Hamas’s military wing, Ahmed Jabari, on November the 14^th. Things soon escalated into out-and-out aggression on both sides until a ceasefire was negotiated by Hilary Clinton and the newly-elected Egyptian leader,  President Mohammed Mursi on the 22^nd. Many critics fear that the peace will not last until a permanent solution is found to this on-going problem.

If we consider the chart for the Israeli nation, we do notice some striking points of interest. It should be stated here that there is some controversy over whether to use the time of 4pm or 4:37pm for the birth of the Israeli nation, depending on which version of events you believe.[1] I have chosen 4pm, although the temptation to go with the latter, which has Scorpio rising, is very appealing under the circumstances.

At any rate, what we do find is that, regardless of the Ascendant, the eclipse occurs at 21-22 degrees Scorpio which is both conjunct Israel’s natal Chiron (memories of religious persecution arising from events such as the Second World War) and opposite Israel’s Sun at 23 degrees Taurus. This on its own, evokes a story of conflict revolving around a deep and abiding need for homeland security (Sun in Taurus) undermined by fears of obliteration from its Arab neighbours, some of whom have openly expressed the desire to wipe it from the face of the earth.

This feeling of ‘kill or be killed’ is reflected in Israel’s Mars-Saturn-Pluto conjunction, which is situated close to its Leo Moon, which is square to its Taurus Sun. This creates an inherent sense of unease and insecurity, and leads to a knee-jerk response (Moon) to defend itself when it feels threatened (Mars-Pluto), even if the response is sometimes out of proportion to the threat. These fears may be due to a Sun-Chiron opposition near the south node, which can often point to traumatic memories of persecution/alienation, or self-defeating patterns we tend to repeat. According to Marjorie Orr: ‘There seem to be only two choices possible out of this chart – annihilate or be annihilated, be the victim or the aggressor.’

Notice too that the Taurus Sun sits opposite the Arabic Part of Catastrophe (which is conjunct Chiron in Scorpio = major persecution wounds), while Mars is conjunct the Part of Faith; and Pluto, the Part of Spirit, thus reinforcing the belief held to this day by many Jews that Israel is the land promised to them by Jehovah after their exodus from Egypt during the time of Moses. It’s therefore hardly surprising that Israel often exhibits high degrees of paranoia bordering on the existential, but also a strong faith and conviction that ‘might is right’ because they see themselves as the ‘chosen ones’ who are defending, quite literally, what they perceive to be their God-given homeland.

Returning to the transit bi-wheel, we have a striking conjunction between transiting Mars and Israel’s natal Jupiter in Sagittarius, which by itself, could be interpreted as a battle or war undertaken for religious reasons – a crusade of sorts, you might say. These happen to oppose Israel’s Uranus in Gemini (9^th), suggesting a push-me-pull you situation that is unpredictable and which sets off in Israel the need to make a principled political and ideological stand, even if it does end up alienating them from the international community.

So what prompted this seemingly unexpected flare-up? Here we need to take into consideration the ingress of Saturn into Scorpio on the 1^st of October. As the ruler of Israel’s IC (and therefore themes around home and belonging) Saturn’s ingress may well have set off in Israel an increased need to consolidate its position and defend its borders without any outside interference from others. Given that Saturn’s tour through Scorpio will last for another two to three years, it would seem that this impulse may well be present for some time to come.  

The eclipse, taking place as it does in Scorpio, (and therefore in Israel’s 2^nd house) does, in and of itself, seem highly resonant of the situation, depicting a struggle for territorial supremacy. The killing of a male leader (in this case, Ahmed Jabari) is not only fitting of a solar eclipse, but also brings out the theme of revenge or retribution – a major element of this particular conflict – as well as the tendency to overreact and be especially harsh, uncompromising and unforgiving in the way one reacts to a challenging situation – all fairly typical of the sign of Scorpio.

Given that eclipses usually have a reach of around six months, we could expect the ripples from this particular crisis to continue for some time. However, on the supportive side, it might bring about added impetus to agree on a permanent roadmap for peace in the region. As many people have argued, a two state solution, arrived at via political means, is the only viable option, but this will require compromise on both Israel and the Arab sides.

However, Scorpio‘s are not generally known for their ability to compromise and can be paranoid control freaks until they are convinced of others’ trustworthiness and loyalty, so will usually not settle for anything less than complete and utter resolution from the roots up. I think we can safely say that resolving the matter and keeping the peace will ultimately require a permanent solution regarding Gaza’s legitimacy and future if the current ceasefire is to last.

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