THE CAPRICORN FESTIVAL

1/2 JAN 2018

© Malvin Artley

“Give light and the people will find their own way.”

Motto of the E.W. Scripps Company

Topics (linked to paragraphs): A word of Hope, and healing of wounds Capricorn, Saturn, karma and opportunity Capricorn, the Rays, Paths and symbolism Capricorn and the Dynamic Duo: A perfect storm The full moon and Sabian symbol Trump and Jerusalem His reasons and the likely effects A short history and ‘Greater Israel’ Jerusalem, the UN and Israel Shining a light through independent media Iran, the cat and the pigeons The true message of Jerusalem

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

And Happy New Year! Each new year starts for me at Chinese New Year, which I am in process of analyzing. That letter will come out a couple of weeks before the lunar New Year, which is 16 Feb 18. But for now, we are in the holiday season in the Western world, with Christmas upon us, along with all the festive spirit and the gross materialism as well, which has come to dominate the month of December in the West. Before we get started on this letter, I wish to extend my great thanks and good wishes to all of you who have subscribed to these letters, new and from some time ago, for your continued interest and support. In the time since I started writing them (ca. 2002) we have seen great changes in this world of ours, much of it violent and oppressive, with moves by various factions to shore up their support bases and advance their agendas. These letters began for me as a result of a crisis of soul and as a response to people asking me what I saw regarding the astrology of events of the time, like the two ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is said that the soul shows itself in times of crisis, and we have faced these collective crises together as the years have passed. But it is not my intention to address those sorts of things in this letter, except for one. Instead, what I see emerging from the crises of the past years is indeed a greater light breaking upon our world, and ironically it is those very crises which indicate that breaking light.

A word of Hope, and healing of wounds: Despite appearances from statements to come and the title, this is a letter of hope. We will begin 2018 with a world on edge, wondering where we are headed in light of recent events, afraid of war, dumbfounded at the cynicism, fecklessness and stupidity of many of our leaders and lawmakers, alarmed at the rise of the far-right in political spheres, and so forth. If we focus solely on that, then the world appears to be headed toward a dark, dystopic future. For one, I refuse to buy into that line of thinking. When I look out what is unfolding, I see a humanity rapidly awakening and responding to events, dissatisfied and becoming motivated toward changing the staid old power structures that seek their continuation at our expense, a world where people increasingly see through the propaganda of the corporate press and media and the elitist political parties, and rapid and significant push-back by the public against reactionary and oppressive policy. Some of you might think that to be pie-in-the-sky, but I have great faith in the common goodness of our fellow man, and I see it at work every day. The hearts of most people are good and in the right place, even though they may still be influenced by old knee-jerk reactions and ancient prejudices. Those latter factors are easily dispelled, though. All we need is more light.

In light of the preceding statements and before get to the main theme of Capricorn, we come to the title of this letter, which in the latter part will be addressing what we have just seen to transpire with respect to the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the Trump administration^[1] and what that might mean for the world at large. But it is also a Christmas story, of sorts. Few topics arouse as much emotion as discussions about Israel, Zionism and their relation to Judaism in general – and more than that, their relation to the Arab and Christian worlds. But in this Christmas season, we in the Christian world are constantly reminded that Jesus was born in what is now Israel in Bethlehem, that he did his ministry there and was finally executed there in Jerusalem by the Romans at the behest of the Jews. So the story goes. If statements like these already arouse strong emotions in you one way or the other, then you may want to read on, or not.

However, what we face in the coming months and maybe next few years is a culmination of factors in a way, and what we will likely see over time as a result of it is ultimately the healing of a wound that has festered in Palestine now for generations, Palestine being inclusive of the nation of Israel. The healing of that wound will also be a great healing for the world at large, not just for what it will mean for the peoples of Palestine – and these include Jews, Arabs and Christians alike. But it will signal the end of the militant grasping of Zionism, meaning also an eventual end to more militant factions in the US and all the carry-on effects of that. We’ll have more on Zionism later. So, before we get to all that, which will come after considering the full moon, we will begin our considerations with the sign Capricorn, which begins at the December solstice each year. And in the course considering that, we have examples some Capricornians who are driving and advocating much of the troubles in the Middle East.

Capricorn, Saturn, karma and opportunity: So, to Capricorn, we have one of the more mysterious signs of the zodiac if we delve into its meaning in any depth. It is a sign of extremes.^[2] On the one hand it represents the extremes of materialism, worldly ambition, personal success, crystallized thought and emotional coldness. On the other extreme it represents pronounced spiritual ambition, which is actually a personal desire and which can amount to spiritual selfishness. It also represents liberation in the spiritual sense. And in these we have the tamasic and rajasic gunas, the ‘black and white’ polarities of expression. But perhaps the one word that best describes Capricorn is ambition in all of its manifestations, and as such it leads the Capricorn type to the top of the heap in whatever field or path they choose. It is rare to find a Capricorn who does not excel in some area or who is not personally ambitious in some way. Capricorn is ruled both in the orthodox and esoterically by Saturn,^[3] which speaks to steady, persistent effort, often against the odds. Capricorn thus marks a life or interval wherein the necessities of karma manifest themselves, Saturn being the main agent of karma in astrology,^[4] thus also marking a life or period of great opportunity.

Why would karma be seen as opportunity? Isn’t karma restriction, something to be avoided? The short answer is no. Karma teaches us to shoulder responsibility for our actions, to pay our debts in a timely fashion, to learn empathy for others through enduring our own burdens, to learn new ways of acting and viewing the world, and in working within our boundaries, to learn transcendence, to aspire to something greater than the lot we have cast for ourselves, the latter being what karma actually is. We might gripe and complain about our conditions, but our choices have put us there, both individually and collectively, and we work through these things together with everyone else. No one is alone in their struggles. In that, we all draw inspiration and collectively work toward something greater. That is the gift of karma, the opportunity presented. The Chinese called Saturn ‘the Earth Planet’,^[5] representing the element of earth, and it was said to govern the sweet taste.^[6] If we see Saturn as a bitter pill and a hard taskmaster, then we miss the point. Saturn is the apparently stern teacher who actually has the heart soft as butter. Once we see past the difficult lessons we stand anew with a wider range of vision and greater strength and skill as a result of our experience. And were the truth known, the great majority of us have more good karma than bad. Saturn is an endowment to the Capricorn type, not a liability.

Following on the Chinese concept, Capricorn is an earth sign, meaning the challenges of the sign must be faced in everyday life, thus producing results on the physical plane. Capricorn, like Libra, is a sign that is powerfully geared toward manifestation, and this can work out materially, as it often does, or spiritually, as it easily can. Saturn brings us to our spiritual mentors, Saturn representing mentors generally – those people having greater wisdom that we – and this is often indicated in astro-cartography. The Saturn line indicates where we will find our deepest levels of experience and where our spiritual opportunities are the greatest. We often meet our mentors on those lines. We have those mentors because of our ‘good karma’, or spiritual grace. In fact, we might say that spiritual grace is inculcated via Saturn throughout our soul history. It is something we have because we have earned it through experience. We build structure with Saturn, and we also build walls. When we look at a fenced property or a walled city, do we see and obstacle keeping us trapped or out, or do we see a welcoming, protected home or place of sojourn? It depends on how we view these things as to the manner in which we proceed.

Capricorn, the Rays, Paths and symbolism: Capricorn works within and transmits the four ‘hardline’ Rays: 1, 3, 5 and 7. ^[7] It transmits Rays 1, 3 and 7 via Saturn and integrates those with the 5^th Ray via Venus. This is one reason why Capricorn can seem so cold and driven at times. Of course, this would be moderated by other factors within the chart. And, Venus is the most subjective ruler of the sign and governs the final stages of the Capricorn experience. Its influence marks a stage wherein the mind and mental factors are fully exhausted and the person stands free of any worldly restriction, a fully-endowed member of the Kingdom of Souls. Capricorn is the sign which most clearly indicates achievement – an end point,^[8] after which no further progress is possible – and in this case we mean the achievement of full enlightenment. Capricorn marks the final stages on the Path, meaning the person is quickly reaching the end of worldly existence. It marks the status of one who has been either transfigured (called a ‘rich young man’, allegorically), crucified (meaning dying completely to attachments in the service to others) or resurrected (in New Age-speak, an ‘ascended Master’) – a ‘Master of the Wisdom’. Capricorn, in combination with Saturn and Venus, governs these last three expansions of human consciousness,^[9] known in Buddhism respectively as the ‘Path of Seeing’, the ‘Path of Meditation’, and the ‘Path of No-More-Learning’.^[10]

With this idea of the Paths as they are described in Buddhism, we also encounter what has been described in the Catholic tradition as the Via Dolorosa,^[11] the path that Jesus took bearing his cross on the way from judgement to his execution. Esoterically that path marks the period between the third and fourth initiations, or the final stages of the Path of Seeing in Buddhism. Via Dolorosa means ‘path of grief’, or of suffering, and it indicates what is before the initiate before taking the next initiation, the fourth. That path, in terms of the actual Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, winds its way up a hill from the old site of the Antonia Fortress where Jesus was tried and convicted, to the mount where is now found the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, on what was once called Golgotha, or Calvary – the ‘place of the skull’. ‘Golgotha’ means ‘pan of the skull’, or skull cap, and it is there (symbolically) where the initiate must go to fully ‘enter the Father’s House’. In terms of meditative practice, it marks the stage wherein true meditation begins – the Buddhist Path of Meditation’ – wherein anything personal is renounced, one ‘dies’ to outer consciousness for extended periods of time and the higher spiritual powers are fully realized. The figurative Via Dolorosa is the period wherein the last vestiges of personal karma are shed, called in Buddhism the gross obstructions to enlightenment, and it is a period of great inner turmoil and suffering, as one lets go of their fondest attachments and realizes the full extent of their karma over many, many lives. The symbolism of these things are stunning, but they are also universal. And in esoteric Buddhism and certain forms of Hinduism, a skull cup is used as part and parcel of one’s practices. The ideas just stated are from where this use of the skull cup arises, again showing the universal nature of what we are examining.

Aside from this, Capricorn has as its symbols the mountain goat, the crocodile/Makara^[12] and the unicorn.^[13] The mountain goat is the lone traveler traversing the rocky way, living on little in pursuit of its goal, with long and winding paths on the earth on its ascent to the clear air of the mountaintop. It is the symbol of the initiate on his/her way. It also harks back to the Via Dolorosa. It is the path of Saturn in its final stages. The crocodile or Makara is the symbol of the person living between two worlds – being in the world but not of it – living between the waters of the emotional sphere, on dry land and with its head partially in the clear air of buddhi, or enlightened bliss. It is Saturn/Venus. This, too, is another symbol of the initiate on the paths. And finally, the unicorn represents the ‘single eye full of light’, the fully evolved 3^rd eye of the Master, with the human form impaled on the horn, meaning that form is now used only in service to the lighted eye and sacrificed on the altar of service to the needy masses in the valley below. Again and again we see with Capricorn the idea of struggle, ultimately achievement against the odds and once the goal is achieved, once one has ‘seen the light’ supernal, turning one’s back on that light in order to bring others to that place. From that, we have the esoteric motto of Capricorn: "Lost am I in light supernal, [Page 174] yet on that light I turn my back."^[14] From first vision to resurrection, Capricorn rules. But there is also a material path for Capricorn, and it is from this that we will look at a couple of Capricorns now in the world spotlight.

Capricorn and the Dynamic Duo: A perfect storm: The materialistic path of Capricorn is echoed through the words: “And the Word said: Let ambition rule and let the door stand wide.”^[15] This is the most common expression of the sign that we see this expression of the sign immerses a person deeply in the affairs of the world and can produce much in the way of karma to be worked off later. It can produce the most intense crystallization in thinking, which is another characteristic of the sign. In light of recent events, there are two people in the Trump administration who are causing quite a stir in the world now for all the wrong reasons, and they are both Capricorns: US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and chief advisor to President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. In a way, they are both representative of much that has become crystallized in the thought and objectives of US administrations in recent decades and as such, much that is in need of breaking up. I do not have birth times for either of them, but there is enough there to demonstrate the ambitious nature of Capricorn.

Jared Kushner comes from a Jewish, high-finance background.^[16] He has been very busy in the Middle East and is making quite a name for himself – a dubious appellation, to be certain. It was his prodding that prompted the recent move by Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He has his natal Sun square to Pluto, which is a driven influence, seeking positions of power and influence. This is very common for anyone who has that aspect, but it is especially so with the Sun in Capricorn. He has close ties through his family with Israeli interests and he serves the Zionist cause, which we will get to later. He also has what has been called a ‘bro-mance’ with the Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who is also causing quite a stir, also for dubious reasons. Kushner will have Pluto transiting over his Sun later in 2018, which will either consolidate his position, or it will bring a downfall. It is hard to say which with no birth time.

Then, there is Nikki Haley, born from a Sikh background in the middle class,^[17] but growing up as Methodist, always having been ambitious. She is now the darling of the neocons in Washington. She was also the governor of South Carolina before being appointed ambassador. One of her biggest donors in the multi-billionaire Sheldon Adelson^[18] (also no birth time), a staunch and vocal Zionist and one who has been pushing for Israeli interests for a long time, whose Moon is most likely in Capricorn conjunct Haley’s Sun (showing their connection). Haley has her Sun in a grand trine with Saturn and Pluto, which indicates her luck in life and also the older people who have mentored her. But, she also has a square between her Venus and Neptune, the latter of which is also opposite Saturn. This is a difficult position for relationships and indicates the strong possibility of being used and shaken down by one or more of her friends. She is definitely being used as a mouthpiece in the UN, and her strident stance toward Iran only betrays the fact. Both she and Kushner are inexperienced at what they are doing, and it shows, with Haley as a public face consistently embarrassing more clear-thinking people in the US and abroad. What is very clear with both of these people is that they have high ambitions, but lack any sort of finesse that is borne out of experience, and as a result they create more troubles than they solve.

What we have, and which we will address shortly, is a perfect storm of characters who are bringing the true agendas of Zionism and the neocons (they are actually the same in their end games) to the light of day, albeit unwittingly. Capricorn is said to represent the best and the worst of the human condition.^[19] This is not to say these two people are the worst sorts, but the people they are undoubtedly ignorantly representing and supporting are the tool of a dark influence that has gripped the world since the last century, and which has cast a pall – a heavy glamour – over the Middle East for some time now. That latter is being broken up now, and the light of day is finally beginning to shine through. It will still take some time, but it is happening, and has been especially since 2015. Now, with the ingress of Saturn into Capricorn, followed the day after by the solar ingress in Capricorn at the solstice in the same degree, we are about to see some powerful reckoning as the karmic imperatives begin to work their way through. The next 2 ½ years are going to bring some big changes, and the ball will get rolling over the next quarter until the Aries ingress. 2018 is going to be a big year, but for now, let’s have a look at the full moon.

The full moon and Sabian symbol: The full moon takes place at the very start of the New Year of 2018, on the 1^st for the western hemisphere and on the 2^nd for the rest of the world in the large. The time for the full moon is 2:24 UT, 2 Jan 18, 1:24 PM AEDT. The Sun is conjunct Venus and forms the midpoint of the base of a kite with Mars and Neptune, the Moon forming the focal point of the kite opposite the Sun and Venus. Thus, we have a grand trine formed with the Moon, Mars and Neptune. This is a configuration that bodes well for emotional matters, especially when we note that ‘Jupiter aligns with Mars’ – reminds me of a song lyric. Let’s see…If you live in Israel or Iran, the Moon will be in the 7^th house at the full moon. Maybe this full moon is an omen of things to come. Will peace guide the planets and love steer the stars this full moon? We’ll hold that thought. I’m not being silly here.

Events hold symbolism that give us indications as to meanings. As an example, the Sabian symbol for the degree of the Moon is rather interesting in that regard. It reads:

“A Chinese woman nursing a baby whose aura reveals him to be the reincarnation of a great Teacher” 12 Cancer

Of course, this symbol will pop up every so often at a full moon, but the message with that symbol is that there is a recurring cycle that signals events that have the capacity to teach us something of great value. And given that it is the Moon that occupies that degree, it signals a lesson from the past, esoterically considered, and that women will play a significant role in the revelation and nursing of the event. In addition to that we find Ceres conjunct the north node, adding another note of feminine power to the chart, also adding a theme of cooperative effort. However, Mars and Jupiter are conjunct at the bending of the nodes, which one might think would indicate stressful relations between people. If Mars was the sole planet squaring the nodes that would indeed be the case, but with Jupiter there it indicates a happy union. With these points in mind, we get to the title theme of this letter, which is about Israel and Jerusalem.

Trump and Jerusalem: Much of the world stood aghast as Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, contravening international law and throwing decades of diplomatic efforts to the wind, keeping in mind that many of those efforts have been stymied in the past because of US intervention on behalf of Israel anyway. I have had many people ask me what my thoughts were on the matter and what it might mean, so at this point is probably a good idea to flesh some of this out. The move by Trump – taken almost unilaterally and at odds with the advice of most administration officials, we might add – is likely to have serious consequences into the future.

The chart for the event was clear enough, especially when put against the backdrop of the US chart. There were similar events in place at the recognition of Israel by the US, especially by solar arc. The analysis would be too much to engage here, but the recognition chart of 1948 clearly shows the blurring of boundaries and glamourizing of the US public at the time, the strategic interests of the administration, the influence of foreign money in the decision, the subversion of US interests and other  influencing factors. Yet, the decision then was said to be useful from the standpoint of the spiritual advancement of humanity, because it represented a test case and would put the spiritual standing of humanity to the test, resulting in valuable experience.^[20] The results have yet to fully work out, and Trump’s decision would appear to be yet another phase of that act of nearly 70 years ago. But the Kingdom of Souls works on a much longer timeline than that of our limited human consciousness.

His reasons and the likely effects: The reasons for Trump to do such a thing are many-fold, but we can list the key points as to why here:

• His decision was based on cajoling by Jared Kushner and Mike Pence in contravention of the advice of more experienced and level-headed administration officials.
• He is under quite a bit of pressure on several fronts and he is trying to shore up his supporter base in case something comes of the investigations into his finances and the Russia investigations. This might seem to be a cynical statement, but distraction of the public is the order of the day when leaders find themselves in a hard place. The same is true of Netanyahu, as he is under pressure to resign on charges of corruption.
• He was getting pressure from pro-Israeli billionaires and groups in Washington to do so
• It was a play to Zionist Christians (a major constituent in his voter base) in the US and Zionists in Israel
• He threw caution to the wind, claiming that the negotiations of the past had gone nowhere and that recognizing Jerusalem “…was the right thing to do”. Both of those statements are clearly debatable. He also stated that Israel was the best example of democracy in the Middle East. That, too, is debatable.
• Then, there are the neocons in Washington who want to keep the Middle East destabilized, who also have a wider plan for the Middle East, and they are clearly at Trump’s ear. Unless one has not been paying attention, the neocons have commandeered Trump, with the dismissal of Steve Bannon indicating and sealing that deal.

The act was clearly not a master stroke of statesmanship, and had echoes of the Truman administration. Both acts clearly were blunders and put the United states and the Jews in Palestine in a difficult position. Israel went to war immediately after becoming a nation. Trump’s action will have several effects, some of which are already showing:

• The US government has now shown that it cannot be trusted as a negotiating partner, especially in the Middle East.
• Americans in the Middle East are now in danger of reprisals. American forces are likely to be pushed out of Kurdish areas of Syria (which is where the oil is), for example.
• Russia will step in to fill the void left by the US in terms of mediating negotiations and in terms of alliances with Middle Eastern countries. We see this already with the Kurds in Syria, who are abandoning US troops in favor of Russian support.^[21] The US in Syria is now in an increasingly questionable position now that Daesh has been routed there, considering Arab sentiments now that Jerusalem has been recognized by Trump, and the fact that the US is there illegally.
• It will hasten the demise of US influence in the region and will thus put the Israeli-US alliance in eventual strain, if not peril.
• It will eventually badly affect Israel, both Jewish and Arabic. The great majority of people in the world want a two-state solution, not the current state of occupation we see in Israel now. Israel is being strongly affected by conservative forces (Saturnian influence), but that will be changing shortly. The Israeli government will be put under strain in the first part of 2018 and we are likely to see an upset there as Uranus transits square to the Israeli meridian.

What is Zionism? Israel and the US: Before we look at the historical context for what is taking place with Israel now, it would be helpful to clarify certain points about Zionism. To start, Zionism as it is used in the context of this letter refers to the militant, nationalist, minority political movement of that name, and it has behind it some powerfully materialistic forces whose aim is the eventual control of the Middle East, its vast petroleum resources and the establishment of a ‘Greater Israel’. To be clear, Zionism is an affront to humanity, to goodwill and to human progress. It might be more helpful to define what Zionism is not, rather than what it is. Most people with whom I have spoken over the years paint Zionists and Jews with the same brush. To do so is an ignorant and false view, although there are Jewish Zionists. However, there are many non-Jewish Zionists, especially among Christian fundamentalists in the US, as well as non-Zionist Jews. Unfortunately, the Zionist Christians (if they can call themselves Christians) hold a powerful sway in US politics at the moment, especially in the Republican Party, although there are Zionists in both the major Parties.

The denouncement of Zionist activity in its mistreatment of the Palestinians, especially since the formation of the Israeli state in 1948, has been fairly universal worldwide. Such denouncement is not a statement about Judaism – i.e., anti-Semitic. It is a simple recognition of basic human rights. Now it has gotten to the point that to speak out against Zionism and the crimes against the Palestinians is to be immediately branded as ‘anti-Semitic’, which is a tool of this vocal group to silence dissent or scrutiny. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Zionist movement to which I refer here – the militant, nationalist, separative brand – is in reality an extremist movement, as divorced from Judaism as was Daesh from Islam or far-right evangelicals are from Christianity.

Israel has been a thorn in the side of US foreign policy since its inception, and the US foreign policy in the Middle East has since been largely reduced to a militaristic stance.^[22] The situation can perhaps be summarized thus:

To these factors [referring to the struggles that lead to war] must be added today the struggle between Hindu and Moslem for the control of India, and 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.^[23] [written immediately after WWII, but still relevant].

And to be even clearer on the subject and what lies behind the current struggle over Palestine, what the Zionists claim as the ‘Promised Land’ was never theirs to start with. The Israelites originally took it from the Palestinians through warfare, much as the Zionists have done today. To say, “Well, the Bible says it is theirs, that it is ‘God’s will’, so it must be true” is farcical as well. That was 3,000 years ago anyway, and has no relevance today:

There is always trouble when that which should be past and gone seeks recognition along ancient lines, and this is a lesson which the Zionists must perforce learn.^[24]

If everyone tried to claim their ancestral lands, where would the world be? Virtually no one lives where their racial or religious stock originated. DNA testing shows that clearly enough. Most of us are happy where we are anyway. The millennia have seen the mass migration of people from virtually all lands due to a variety of factors. And this is not even considering the factor of reincarnation. And as for the involvement of the US with the Zionists, we have further prescience on the matter from 70 years ago:

The United States, urged by expediency, by the financial weight of the Zionists, and by the strategic position of Palestine, have thrown the weight of their influence into the conflict on the side of aggression and of territorial theft. They could have worked for the Principle of Harmony and permitted time and the non-separativeness of the nations to adjust and solve the Jewish problem.^[25] [the latter referring to what to do for the Jewish diaspora from Europe after WWII].

A short history and ‘Greater Israel’: So, we have ourselves a right royal mess now. What follows may come as a surprise to some readers, but the nation of Israel, as promoted by the Zionist movement, has been largely opposed from the beginning by the US Department of State because it represents the undue influence of a minority group in US foreign affairs. It has done so since the Balfour Declaration a century ago and especially has done so since Truman recognized and pushed for the state of Israel in 1948. Truman’s decision then, like Trump’s decision now, played entirely to US domestic politics and to this minority – but powerful – lobbying influence. Truman was heard to state at the time “I’m sorry gentlemen, but I have to answer to hundreds of thousands anxious for the success of Zionism: I do not have hundreds of thousands of Arabs among my constituents.”^[26] This was just after WWII, and there was wide public support in the US for a homeland for Jewish people for many reasons, not the least of which was due to the horrors of the Holocaust. But the suffering of other peoples of the world was washed out of the media and pushed into the background, especially that of the Russians and the peoples of the Orient. Truman’s tenure in the White House also marked the start of the Cold War and the anti-Russian stance of US administrations ever since, which in itself was a falsehood and used as a justification for continuing and strengthening the military-industrial state.

It is also worthy of note that the British Parliament also soundly denounced and voted against the Balfour Declaration in 1922, only to have it resurface and pass through the efforts of Churchill in 1923. This was just after WWI, when oil was being discovered in the region and coming into vogue as the world’s major energy source. Churchill’s reasoning was interesting, though, in that he said that the Jews deserved a home in Palestine, alongside the other people already there, not that they should have all of Palestine. The British had control of Palestine at the time and they were busy dividing up the Middle East into different states after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. It was the old ‘divide and conquer’ bit. So, of all the nations who played a hand in the establishment of the nation of Israel, the British and the US have played the greatest role and continue in their support to this day. And it was a decision that has haunted them in one way or another ever since. But there is more to the picture.

There has been a plan for a ‘greater Israel’ from the very beginnings of the Zionist movement at the turn of the 20^th century. That plan was promoted in secret. It called for a reinstitution of the Biblical ‘Promised Land’, stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates, and from non-Kurdish Syria through the top portion of Saudi Arabia. The plan all along, especially since the formation of the Israeli state, with the help of Washington, was to ‘Balkanize’^[27] the Middle East and establish Israel as the imperial power in the region, complete with Arab vassal states based on sectarian populations. The success of Russian and Syrian forces in defeating Daesh has been a major setback to that plan.^[28] If things keep going as they are, that Zionist plan is doomed to eventual complete collapse. And that will be a happy day for the nations of the world. What will happen to the Jews in Israel is anyone’s guess, but they would likely have to submit to some plan that is not to the Zionists’ liking and do their best to live alongside their Muslim and Christian neighbors, or they would emigrate to other lands, and probably be otherwise well accepted and welcomed in their new homes.

Jerusalem, the UN and Israel: For myself, I have no problem with Jews living in Palestine, or anywhere else for that matter. I have Jewish friends and clients, and as far as I know, all of them want peace between the Palestinians and Israelis – a true, equitable and just peace. As for Jerusalem, the Old City in the contested East Jerusalem is a World Heritage site. It belongs to no one nation or people. It belongs to all of us. It is a holy site for Jews, Muslims and Christians alike. There are 220 historic monuments there, including the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque, the Wailing Wall, the Temple Mount and the site of Abraham’s sacrifice, to name a few. The Old City holds great symbolic significance for humanity in general, not simply for the religions represented there. It is a place where three of the world’s great religions meet, and where they had lived in relative peace for centuries before the Zionists came along. In the Christian tradition it is a place of initiation, death, resurrection and revelation.

Thus, Jerusalem is “…the place of death and likewise the city of peace”^[29] What will die in Jerusalem? If humanity prevails over any sense of nationalism, our sense of separateness will die there, as well as the cause of Zionism. The city will eventually be a city of peace once we solve the problem of Zionism. There will probably be much in the way of struggle in the next years, but eventually peace will come as a result of the collective will of the world’s nations.

In the past days there was a vote in the United Nations Security Council about rescinding Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem. The vote was 14 – 1, with the US issuing the single veto vote.^[30] The US ambassador Nikki Haley called the vote “an insult to the US”, adding that the US remained committed to peace between the Israeli’s and Palestinians, without putting forward any indications of what that plan might be. Once again, the US has sided with the Zionists, despite statements to the contrary. Trump has stated that his decision simply reflected reality. Who’s reality, we might ask? Apparently, it is the reality of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose family are close friends with Benjamin Netanyahu. And if we wait much longer, there will no longer be any Palestinians left in Israel sufficient to amount to any protest. Israel has already de facto annexed almost all the land captured in its wars with Arab states. It continues its illegal settlements regardless of international pressures. Perhaps this is the ‘reality’ of which Trump is speaking.

According to the UN charter for the partition of Palestine and creation of the Israeli state – to which the United States agreed – the area of Jerusalem was to be a corpus separatum, belonging neither to Arabs nor to Jews. And the areas known as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were to be Palestinian. The Golan Heights belong to Syria. In effect, for either Jew, Christian or Arab to claim the Old City or Jerusalem as ‘theirs’ is a contravention of UN resolutions, also. Effectively, what we see in Israel is a colonization of Palestinian land, spearheaded by the Zionist movement. It is the same sort of scenario that was the colonization of African and American continents by European powers in previous centuries. And Zionism began as a European movement.

Shining a light through independent media: There is very little understanding of what is transpiring in Israel by the citizenry of the United States, except by people who have been there. The US press has been largely complicit in the deception of Americans as to Israeli actions and the true nature of the American-Israeli  alliance. Israel is seen as a great ally by most Americans and heralded as such in the American press. It is not so in independent media. I am reminded of a statement by one of the champions of a free press in the US, E.W. Scripps, whose namesake company’s motto is quoted at the start of this letter. That quote goes as follows:

A newspaper fairly and honestly conducted in the interests of the great masses of the public must at all times antagonize the selfish interests of that very class [the advertisers] which furnishes the larger part of a newspaper's income. It must occasionally so antagonize this class as to cause it not only to cease patronage, to a greater or lesser extent, but to make actually offensive warfare against the newspaper.^[31]

If we want to see the truth about our ‘alliance’ with Israel, speaking as an American, we must go to the independent media outlets, many of which are now called ‘fake news’ outlets by the corporate media. True, independent media should enlighten, should challenge our perceptions, expand our vision and above all should hold the powers-that-be to account. If the greater part of the American public were to know the truth about Israel and the Zionists at home and abroad, then the Palestinian-Zionist problem would be quickly solved, and to the detriment of the Zionists. And in addition, our actions in the Middle East would be quickly moderated and sharply curtailed. Our planet would be  much more peaceful as a result. The likes of Kushner and Haley would also be shown for what they are – as minor, ignorant players who have far too much influence and who do not represent the interests of world goodwill or the wider American public.

Iran, the cat and the pigeons: To add a final note before closing this piece, most Americans, British and Canadians believe that Iran is the greatest threat to world peace.^[32] This, too, is a lie and a product of the corporate media, both in the US and in Europe. If one follows the money trail it is not difficult to see who is behind it, especially if we look back at previous statements about the creation of Israel. Given our experience with the Iraq war in 2003, I have been watching the media with regard to Iran, and the propaganda toward war with that nation has been ramped up since Trump has been in office. Nikki Haley’s recent fandango at the UN with the purported  Iranian missile behind her goes to point. Iran has never really called for the destruction of Jews in Israel. It has called for the extinction of the existing regime in Israel. That is a big difference from wiping out the Jewish people in the region. But much of such talk is pure rhetoric, from which nothing eventuates. And Israel does not help itself with trying to foment conflict with Iran. Do we begin to get the picture here? Iran is on the fast track to becoming the regional hegemon instead of Israel, and that alone is one of the biggest reasons we see the hyperbole toward Iran in the Western press.

But for whatever reason, Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as thrown the proverbial cat among the pigeons. Now there will be some action on the Palestinian plight, one way or the other. His act has endangered the lives of many within the region, mostly Israeli, truth be known. It is very doubtful there will be a war with Iran, though. We can chalk that up to our experience with the Iraq War, the inexperience of Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, the bungling of Jared Kushner, the strength of the Iranian military, the increasing pressure on Netanyahu by the Israeli public, the lack of American will for another war, and probably more than anything to the presence of Russia and China in the region now. The Zionists know that they have very little time to advance anything with regard to Israeli hegemony in the region, and they see American influence waning rather quickly. Unless there is some major military action against Iran, which would have to involve many Arab states, conscription in the US, and calling on NATO allies, or a spectacular blunder on the part of Russia or China, which is doubtful, Iran is fairly secure in its position. All it has to do is wait things out, keep up a mild sort of pressure and the situation will resolve because of rising international indignation and pressure on the Zionists.

In the meantime, we must live, think and act as if there will be a rightful and peaceful plan for the Palestinians. Israel was originally planned as a two-state partition, but that is not likely the way it will go in the future, now that Trump has played his hand. What we are likely to see into the future is a Palestinian state – a single state composed of equal Jewish, Muslim and Christian constituents, with a Muslim majority. It may seem unbelievable now and would probably take decades to unfold, but the seeds for that have now taken root. Our test case has now gone to trial. n conclusion, I said at the start that this was to be a letter of hope. Why I say that is because we have turned a corner in the past couple of years. We have passed a critical point wherein the Middle East teetered on the brink of becoming a broken region, full of warring factions, with conservative Sunni puppet governments ruling over failed states, the final solution to the ‘Palestinian problem’ in Israel and a region dominated by corporate interests. That was called to a halt in Syria. Regardless of how we feel about Assad and Putin, they stopped what to all intents and purposes was an advancing evil agenda.

Instead, what we see now are the lesser players scrambling for their place at a newly forming table, the future of which is being indicated by China through its Belt and Road initiative, which is being linked by and through Russia and which will eventually encompass all of Europe and Asia. It is not simply a Chinese project. It is international in its scope. It is a great and unfolding experiment, and it cannot be thwarted by hawks in Washington, nor in Israel, no matter how hard they may try. All countries along that route will benefit through it, Iran and Israel included eventually. The US can, too, and eventually will. Trade and cooperation are a much better bet than war any day. It is foolish to even consider another large war at this point in our history. As the old axiom goes, “He who lives by the sword dies by the sword.” The ‘defense budget’ in the US is killing America. That is the real enemy that America faces, not some manufactured foe. As Saturn transits through Capricorn we will see karma come to roost in that regard, and much will be changed in the coming 2 ½ years.

The true message of Jerusalem: The message of Christmas each year is one of joy and of peace. It is a time to remember our loved ones, to extend love to others and to remember the teachings in the story of the Nazarene all those centuries ago. The message was simple: treat others as we would wish to be treated, have care of each other, care for those less fortunate and follow the example that he gave. His was a life of simplicity. There was no grasping for things or fame, for power or influence. He gave to everyone according to their need and turned no one in need away. He owned nothing, yet had riches beyond our comprehension. And, in that particular life he was a wandering Jew – a symbol of humanity – yet he was universal, not bound by human concepts of a faith. That is the story of a life that has been passed down to us for the past two millennia, yet it is a timeless narrative – the eventual story of all of us, no matter what the faith of our birth. Jerusalem abides in the heart of every one of us. Its name comes from the root word shalom, which means peace, which is further derived from shalem, denoting completeness, wholeness and soundness. Is that not what we each find in our heart of hearts when we go there? May we all live there in each waking moment. It is an especially important consideration for this year. ‘Jerusalem’ belongs to no one. It is a big part of who we are. It is indeed a holy place. Eventually we will all realize it. All we need is more light, and we will find our way there.

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