by Avi Shlaim
2. Adiba Mango, ‘Jordan on the Road to Peace 1988–1999’ (unpublished D.Phil. thesis, University of Oxford, 2002), 236–7.
3. Bruce Maddy-Weitzman, ed., Middle East Contemporary Survey. Volume XXII: 1998 (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2001), 362–8.
4. Interview with Prince El Hassan bin Talal.
5. Ibid.
6. Samir A. Mutawi, Jordan in the 1967 War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 19–20.
7. Maddy-Weitzman, ed., Middle East Contemporary Survey. Volume XXII: 1998, 366.
8. Interview with Adnan Abu-Odeh.
9. Philip Robins, A History of Jordan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 196. Queen Noor denied that she influenced her husband to change the succession. Her main mission throughout their time in Mayo was to save her husband, and the situation did not seem hopeless until the very end. She kept hoping that the treatment would work and that he would recover. She is emphatic that she did not discuss the succession with her husband until he was about to tell Abdullah. Whenever relatives raised the issue, she replied it was the will of God and the judgement of Hussein. Whenever Abdul Karim Kabariti referred to the matter, she changed the subject. She had very little contact with General Samih Batikhi, and she certainly did not conspire with him against Hassan. Nor did she lobby for her son Hamzah, who was only eighteen at the time. Once the decision was made, she gave Abdullah all her support. All the rumours surrounding her role in the crisis emanated from Amman, and they were baseless. As for the letter that Hussein sent to Hamzah on his eighteenth birthday, it was written without Noor’s knowledge. When she read the letter in the press, she thought it was unfortunate and pointed out to her husband that it may not be well received by Hassan. She did not push her son forward because there was an incumbent crown prince. Besides, Hussein and Hamzah had an excellent relationship; they were the best of friends. Hussein could talk to Hamzah directly about this or any other matter if he wanted to. Conversation with Queen Noor, Oxford, 12 Nov. 2006.
10. Interview with Marwan Kasim.
11. Interview with Princess Basma bint Talal.
12. Maddy-Weitzman, ed., Middle East Contemporary Survey. Volume XXII: 1998, 365.
13. Noor, Leap of Faith, 413.
14. Dennis Ross, The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004), 448–9.
15. Ibid., 450.
16. Noor, Leap of Faith, 415.
17. Ibid., 416.
18. Interview with Ihsan Shurdom.
19. Maddy-Weitzman, ed., Middle East Contemporary Survey, 1998, 381–2.
20. Noor, Leap of Faith, 416–18.
21. Randa Habib email to Avi Shlaim, 12 December 2006.
22. Maddy-Weitzman, ed., Middle East Contemporary Survey. Volume XXII: 1998, 364–6.
23. Interview with Hussein Majali.
24. Interview with Christopher Prentice, Oxford, 7 November 2006. Mr Prentice was the British ambassador to Amman, 2002–6.
25. Interview with King Abdullah bin Hussein.
26. Noor, Leap of Faith, 419–20.
27. Interview with Prince El Hassan bin Talal and Princess Sarvath, London, 11 January 2007.
28. Interview with Hussein Majali.
29. Interview with King Abdullah bin Hussein.
30. Noor, Leap of Faith, 420–21.
31. Ibid., 420.
32. Interview with Adnan Abu-Odeh.
33. Noor, Leap of Faith, 424.
34. CNN transcript of 20 January 1999 interview with His Majesty King Hussein conducted by CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour in Amman. King Hussein’s interviews and press conferences, www.kinghussein.gov.jo.
35. Prince Hassan to King Hussein, 21 January 1999, reproduced in Journal of Palestine Studies, 28:3 (Spring 1999).
36. Twelve-page letter from El Hassan bin Talal to HM King Hussein, Amman, 28 January 1999.I am grateful to Prince Hassan for placing a copy of this letter, in its original Arabic and in its English version, at my disposal. Prince Hassan expected this letter to be published because it was a reply to the king’s letter of 25 January 1999, which was released to the media immediately. But the king’s aides did not release the reply. General Samir Batikhi instructed Prince Hassan not to make any statements to the media following his dismissal. The lengths to which General Batikhi went to silence and neutralize Hassan suggest that he was afraid that Hassan might mount a counter-coup.
37. Interview with Prince El Hassan bin Talal.
38. Interviews with Hussein Majali and Fayez Tarawneh.
39. Interview with King Abdullah bin Hussein.
40. Noor, Leap of Faith, 426.
41. Interview with Prince Talal bin Muhammad.
42. Noor, Leap of Faith, 427.
43. Interview with Hussein Majali.
44. King Hussein to Prince Hassan, 25 January 1999, text reproduced in Journal of Palestine Studies, 28:3 (Spring 1999).
45. El Hassan bin Talal to King Hussein, Amman, 28 January 1999. See Note 36.
46. Interview with Marwan Kasim.
47. Interview with Prince Talal bin Muhammad.
48. Ibid.
49. Interview with Hussein Majali. At St John’s Eye Hospital in Jerusalem there is a photograph of King Hussein taken in 1961 signing a piece of paper that declared that on his death his eyes were to be removed and used to give sight to someone. He was the first person ever to issue such an instruction at the hospital, but for medical reasons when he died his eyes could not be used. I am grateful to Jill, Duchess of Hamilton, for this piece of information.
50. Noor, Leap of Faith, 431–2.
Jordanian Secret Meetings
with Israeli Officials
Date
Place
Participants
24.9.1963
London
King Hussein, Dr Yaacov Herzog
2.5.1964
London
Hussein, Herzog
19.12.1964
London
Hussein, Herzog
19.9.1965
Paris
Hussein, Golda Meir
2.7.1967
London
Hussein, Herzog
19.11.1967
London
Hussein, Herzog
20.11.1967
London
Hussein, Herzog
3.5.1968
London
Hussein, Zaid Rifa’i, Abba Eban, Herzog
5.5.1968
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
6.5.1968
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
19.6.1968
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
20.6.1968
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
22.8.1968
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Herzog
24.8.1968
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Herzog
27.9.1968
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Yigal Allon, Eban, Herzog
29.9.1968
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
16.10.1968
London
Rifa’i, Gen. Amer Khammash, Gen. Chaim Bar-Lev, Herzog
18.10.1968
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Khammash, Bar-Lev, Herzog
19.11.1968
Aqaba Bay
Hussein, Rifa’i, Sharif Nasser bin Jamil, Allon, Eban, Herzog
19.12.1968
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
26.1.1969
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
28.1.1969
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Herzog
20.2.1969
Aqaba Bay
Hussein, Rifa’i, Allon, Eban, Herzog
23.4.1969
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
25.4.1969
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Herzog
27.4.1969
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
25.5.1969
Coral Island
Hussein, Rifa’i, Eban, Allon, Herzog
26.7.1969
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
17.9.1969
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
28.9.1969
London
Rifa’i, Sharif Nasser, Bar-Lev, Herzog
3.10.70
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Rifa’i, Allon, Herzog
21.3.1972
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Meir
29.6.1972
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Rifa’i, Meir, Moshe Dayan
19.11.1972
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Rifa’i, Meir, Dayan
9.5.1973
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Meir
6.8.1973
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Meir
25.9.1973
Tel Aviv
Hussein, Rifa’i, Meir, Mordechai Gazit
26.1.1974
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Rifa’i, Meir, Dayan, Gazit
7.3.1974
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Rifa’i, Meir, Dayan, Gazit
28.8.1974
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Rifa’i, Itzhak Rabin, Allon, Shimon Peres, Gazit
19.10.1974
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Rifa’i, Rabin, Allon, Peres
28.5.1975
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Rifa’i, Rabin, Allon, Peres
March 1977
Tel Aviv
Hussein, Rifa’i, Rabin, Allon, Peres
22.8.1977
London
Hussein, Dayan
19.7.1985
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Peres
5.10.1985
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Peres, Yossi Beilin
March 1986
Strasbourg
Hussein, Rabin
July 1986
Aqaba
Hussein, Rifa’i, Rabin, Peres, Gen. Moshe Levy
11.4.1987
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Peres, Beilin, Efraim Halevy, Nahum Admoni
18.7.1987
Sussex
Hussein, Itzhak Shamir, Elyakim Rubinstein, Yossi Ben-Aharon, Halevy, Brig. Azriel Nevo
4–5.1.1991
Ascot
Hussein, Sharif Zaid bin Shaker, Adnan Abu-Odeh, Brig. Ali Shukri, Shamir, Rubinstein, Ben-Aharon, Major-General Ehud Barak
26.9.1993
Aqaba
Hussein, Prince Hassan, Shaker, Shukri, Rabin, Rubinstein, Eitan Haber, Halevy
2.11.1993
Amman
Hussein, Hassan, Abdul Salam Majali, Peres, Avi Gil, Halevy
19.5.1994
London
Hussein, Hassan, Rabin, Rubinstein, Halevy
25.7.1994
Washington
Hussein, Majali, Rabin, Peres, Itamer Rabinovich
The Hashemite Dynasty
Chronology
14 Nov. 1935
Hussein bin Talal born in Amman.
22 Mar. 1946
Anglo-Jordanian treaty signed, granting Transjordan independence.
15 May 1946
Amirate of Transjordan renamed the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
29 Nov. 1947
UN resolution for the partition of Palestine.
15 Mar. 1948
Anglo-Jordanian treaty of alliance signed.
14 May 1948
Proclamation of the State of Israel.
15 May 1948–7 Jan. 1949
First Arab–Israeli War.
1 Dec. 1948
Palestinian Congress in Jericho votes for the absorption of the West Bank into Jordan.
3 Apr. 1949
Jordanian–Israeli armistice agreement signed.
24 Apr. 1950
Parliament approves unification of East and West banks.
20 July 1951
King Abdullah I assassinated in Jerusalem.
6 Sept. 1951
King Talal’s formal accession to the throne.
9 Sept. 1951
Hussein bin Talal named crown prince.
1 Jan. 1952
New Jordanian constitution promulgated.
23 July 1952
Free Officers’ Revolution in Egypt.
11 Aug. 1952
King Talal abdicates; Hussein bin Talal proclaimed king.
2 May 1953
King Hussein’s formal accession to the throne.
14–15 Oct. 1953
The Qibya raid.
24 Feb. 1955
Iraq and Turkey sign the Baghdad Pact.
5 Apr. 1955
Britain joins the Baghdad Pact.
16 Apr. 1955
King Hussein marries Princess Dina (Dina Abdul Hamid).
27 Sept. 1955
Nasser announces the ‘Czech’ arms deal.
20 Oct. 1955
Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia sign defence pact.
15 Dec. 1955
Jordan prepares to join the Baghdad Pact.
16–19 Dec. 1955
Anti-Baghdad Pact riots in Jordan.
7–9 Jan. 1956
Second wave of anti-Baghdad Pact riots.
1 Mar. 1956
King Hussein dismisses Glubb Pasha.
12 Mar. 1956
Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia offer to replace the British subsidy.
24 May 1956
Ali Abu Nuwar appointed chief of staff.
26 July 1956
Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal Company.
10 Oct. 1956
IDF raid on Qalqilyah.
21 Oct. 1956
National Socialist Party wins election to the lower house.
22–4 Oct. 1956
Protocol of Sèvres.
24 Oct. 1956
Defence pact signed by Jordan, Egypt and Syria.
27 Oct. 1956
Suleiman Nabulsi appointed prime minister.
29 Oct.–7 Nov. 1956
The Suez War.
5 Jan. 1957
The Suez War.
19 Jan. 1957
Anti-communist Eisenhower Doctrine proclaimed.
13 Mar. 1957
King Hussein signs Arab solidarity agreement.
8 Apr. 1957
Anglo-Jordanian treaty abrogated.
10 Apr. 1957
First Armoured Car Regiment surrounds Amman.
13 Apr. 1957
King Hussein dismisses Prime Minister Nabulsi.
22 Apr. 1957
Ali Abu Nuwar’s coup and Hussein’s counter-coup.
23 Apr. 1957
A National Congress of left-wing parties is held in Nablus.
24 Apr. 1957
Demonstrations against the Eisenhower Doctrine and the government of Fakhri al-Khalidi.
25 Apr. 1957
Washington offers Jordan financial help under the Eisenhower Doctrine.
29 Apr. 1957
Ibrahim Hashem forms new government, martial law imposed and political parties banned.
24 June 1957
US approves an annual grant to Jordan of $10 million.
1 Feb. 1958
King Hussein divorces Princess Dina.
14 Feb. 1958
Syria and Egypt merge to form the United Arab Republic (UAR).
14 July 1958
Arab Union is formed by a merger of Jordan and Iraq.
16 July 1958
Revolution in Iraq and assassination of royal family.
17 July 1958
King Hussein requests military assistance from Britain and America.
29 Oct. 1958
British troops arrive in Jordan for ‘Operation Fortitude’.
Mar. 1959
British troops are withdrawn f
rom Jordan.
5 May 1959
King Hussein’s visit to Washington.
17 May 1959
Hazza’ al-Majali succeeds Samir Rifa’i as prime minister.
29 Aug. 1960
Arrest and conviction of General Sadiq al-Shar’a.
25 May 1961
Prime Minister Hazza’ al-Majali assassinated in Amman.
28 Sept. 1961
Hussein marries Princess Muna (Antoinette Gardiner).
28 Jan. 1962
Syrian coup leads to dissolution of UAR.
30 Jan. 1962
Wasfi al-Tall forms his first government.
2 July 1962
Birth of Crown Prince Abdullah.
Sept. 1962
Wasfi al-Tall presents his White Paper on Palestine.
8 Feb. 1963
Outbreak of war in Yemen.
8 Mar. 1963
Ba’thist coup in Iraq Ba’thist coup in Syria.
17 Apr. 1963
New United Arab Republic proclaimed by Egypt, Syria and Iraq. Pro-Arab unity demonstrations in Jordan.
21 Aug. 1963
Establishment of diplomatic relations between Jordan and the Soviet Union.
