in bocca al lupo to the dog star
The astrology blog of malvinartley.com
On the morning of 7 Oct 2023 Hamas launched its response to the storming of the Al-Aqsa mosque by Israeli settlers, with its Operation ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’. There were claims that over 5,000 rockets were fired into southern Israel from Gaza. Israel has declared ‘a state of war’. In response, Israeli forces launched ‘Operation Iron Swords’ into the Gaza Strip. For more, read on… Continue reading “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”
On October 9th 2023 a senior Hamas official announced it had ‘achieved all of its targets’ in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, and was open to negotiations to end the conflict. Yet the conflict continues. In this 2nd part of our examination of Al-Aqsa Flood, we will look at the causes for the current operations (there have been many, and on both sides) and what this will mean for Israel going forward. Continue reading “The Great Gaza Jailbreak of 2023”
Israel finds itself in a bit of strife these days, what with the changes taking place in West Asia and East Africa, strife within its own borders, a White House that is not entirely sympathetic and resistance forces in the region who would be more than happy to see the Zionists gone from the region. Currently Israel has Bibi Netanyahu as its PM once again, for the 3rd time since 1996, but with a tenuous hold on power. Then, on the 26th of March Bibi fired the Defence Minister Yoav Gallant because the latter disagreed with the judicial reforms Bibi had proposed. Israel erupted. So, what’s going on? Has Israel’s moment of reckoning finally come? We’ll have a look at that here, along with Israel’s astrology. Continue reading “Israel’s moment of reckoning?”
Update on Palestine, 21 May 2021: A ceasefire was declared for 2:00 am on the 21st in the Gaza bombing campaign, “Operation Guardian of the Walls”. The Palestinians have prevailed. It was a unilateral ceasefire on the part of the Israelis, voted for unanimously by the Israeli Security Cabinet. This came after a phone call by Biden on Wednesday, where he stated that “he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire“. The Israeli bombings ended with a phone call. Hamas followed suit. There were celebrations well into the night in Gaza and Jerusalem. Palestinians were praying freely in Al-Aqsa mosque Friday morning. Continue reading “The Israeli ceasefire: Victory or defeat for whom?”
On 21st November 2019, “Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit handed down a harsh and severe charge sheet on Thursday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.” People worldwide are cheering. The process in the Knesset of removing Bibi’s immunity from prosecution could take up to 30 days. This comes at a very interesting time in the evolving fortunes of the Middle East. We’ll look a little closer at Bibi’s contested chart here to get some clues about what to expect. Continue reading “It’s all about the Benjamin now – Bibi, that is.”
On 17 Sep 2019 Israel held its 2nd election in a year after the dissolution of the Israeli Parliament in April. The election was cast as a contest between Benny Gantz and Benjamin Netanyahu, the latter having tried for a fifth term as PM. In reality, though, it was a vote on whether or not Bibi was still fit to hold office. Neither of the candidates’ parties scored enough seats to form government. The final count was Gantz at 33 seats to Netanyahu’s 31. Even then, Bibi had to cobble together his seats from a far-right coalition. Since then there have been calls for formation of a unity government between Likud (Bibi’s party) and Blue and White (Gantz), with Lieberman cast as the kingmaker. Gantz has refused, and now the Joint List (Arab) party has endorsed Gantz as their man to be PM. The question on everyone’s mind is now: Is this the end of Bibi Netanyahu? Continue reading “Is this Bibi’s swan song?”
[There is an update to this post HERE.] Israelis went to the polls today yet again, after only a few months, to try to see if a government could be formed from amongst the warring political parties in Israel. Polling on the day puts the Kahol Lavan Party of Benny Gantz a half point ahead of Likud (Netanyahu), with those two parties far out in the lead. Five months ago, when Netanyahu had to form a coalition, he did so with far right parties. But then the Israeli Parliament dissolved itself and forced another election — this one. It is an important election in some respects,and then in another way, not. We’ll get to the why in both cases as we go along. Continue reading “Why this Israeli election is important and why none of them matter”
Israel is finding itself in an increasingly difficult position as the years pass. On 3 Mar 2019 Israel’s Attorney General decided to move forward with Netanyahu’s indictment on fraud charges. In election mode and under increasing pressure, his latest move is to talk of blocking Iranian oil shipments with the Israeli navy, not explaining how. Many people will no doubt cheer his indictment. But then, it becomes a case of being careful for what one wishes. Whoever takes his place if he is removed from office may well be worse, i.e. even more hawkish. Even that could take several years. But that is not the thing that is of interest so much. Rather more to the point, what do we see happening with Israel in general in the next years? This indictment (or moves toward it) may well signal the evolution of larger events. It will also have large effects, probably, on peace or moves toward war in the Middle East. Continue reading “A storm coming for Israel?”
Are you ready for the deal of the century? Well, it’s coming, reportedly on the 1st of December, and if recent events in Gaza are any indication it will not fly with Palestinians. The Palestinian leader Abbas has seen the deal and wants no part of it. The Palestinians want adherence to the terms of the 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem. The US has said that like it or not, the deal is done. Such rhetoric will only serve to unite the Palestinians more strongly, further inflaming tensions. All of a sudden there seems to be a lot of interest in Gaza from the White House. If the deal is announced on December 1st as is purportedly planned, then it could be quite an explosive day. And in the midst of all this, Netanyahu is about to lose government due to his defense minister having just stepped down because of Netanyahu’s actions with regard to Gaza. Interesting times in old Palestine. Continue reading “The deal of the century and Gaza”