by Avi Shlaim
13–17 Jan. 1964
First Arab summit meeting, in Cairo, decides on Jordan River diversion, Unified Arab Command and Palestinian entity.
14 Apr. 1964
King Hussein meets President Johnson in the White House.
5–11 Sept. 1964
Second Arab Summit, in Alexandria.
1 Apr. 1965
Hassan bin Talal appointed crown prince.
13–17 Sept. 1965
Third Arab summit, in Casablanca.
23 Feb. 1966
Left-wing coup in Syria followed by increased PLO activity against Israel.
7 Nov. 1966
Syria and Egypt sign mutual defence treaty.
13 Nov. 1966
Israeli raid on West Bank village of Samu’.
Nov.–Dec. 1966
Mass demonstrations and riots following Samu’ raid. PLO intensifies propaganda campaign against Jordan.
4 Jan. 1967
Jordan closes PLO offices in Jerusalem.
23 Feb. 1967
Jordan recalls its ambassador from Egypt.
7 Apr. 1967
Israeli aircraft shoot down seven Syrian MiGs.
16 May 1967
Nasser deploys troops in Sinai.
19 May 1967
Nasser requests withdrawal of UN Emergency Force from Sinai.
22 May 1967
Nasser closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.
30 May 1967
King Hussein signs mutual defence pact with Egypt placing Jordanian Army under Egyptian command.
4 June 1967
Mutual defence pact signed between Egypt and Iraq.
5–10 June 1967
The June War.
26 June 1967
King Hussein addresses UN General Assembly.
27 June 1967
Israel annexes East Jerusalem.
28 June 1967
King Hussein meets President Johnson in Washington.
10 July 1967
King Hussein meets President Nasser in Cairo.
28 Aug.–1 Sept. 1967
Fourth Arab League summit, in Khartoum.
30 Sept. 1967
King Hussein visits Cairo.
2–5 Oct. 1967
King Hussein’s first official visit to Moscow.
3–12 Nov. 1967
King Hussein in the US.
22 Nov. 1967
UN Security Council passes Resolution 242.
21 Mar. 1968
Battle of Karameh.
3 Feb. 1969
Yasser Arafat elected chairman of the PLO.
Mar. 1969–Aug. 1970
Israeli–Egyptian ‘War of Attrition’.
26 Apr. 1969
King Hussein presents joint Jordanian–Egyptian peace plan to President Nixon.
9 Dec. 1969
The Rogers Plan is announced.
15 Dec. 1969
Israel rejects the Rogers Plan.
21 Dec. 1969
Fifth Arab League summit, in Rabat.
10 Feb. 1970
Jordan announces new measures aimed at curbing fedayeen activity and restoring order in the country.
9 June 1970
King Hussein’s motorcade ambushed by fedayeen and PFLP abducts sixty-eight foreign hostages in Amman.
10 June 1970
King Hussein and Arafat agree on a ceasefire.
11 June 1970
Sharif Nasser bin Jamil, commander-in-chief of the army, and Sharif Zaid bin Shaker, commander of the Third Armoured Division, resign.
19 June 1970
The second Rogers Plan.
10 July 1970
Jordan and the PLO sign an agreement brokered by the Arab Reconciliation Committee.
26 July 1970
Jordan accepts the second Rogers Plan.
Aug. 1970
Sharif Zaid bin Shaker reinstated, promoted to deputy chief of staff.
7 Aug. 1970
Israeli–Egyptian ceasefire under the Rogers Plan.
1 Sept. 1970
King Hussein’s motorcade ambushed by fedayeen.
6–12 Sept. 1970
Three airliners hijacked by the PFLP in Amman.
16 Sept. 1970
Military government appointed under Brigadier Muhammad Daoud.
17–27 Sept. 1970
Showdown between Jordanian Army and fedayeen.
19–22 Sept. 1970
Syrian military incursion into Jordan.
26 Sept. 1970
Arab summit meeting in Cairo to resolve the crisis in Jordan.
27 Sept. 1970
King Hussein signs ceasefire agreement with PLO.
28 Sept. 1970
President Nasser dies and Anwar Sadat succeeds him.
13 Oct. 1970
The Amman Agreement signed between Jordan and the PLO.
Mar.–Apr. 1971
Jordan resumes offensive against fedayeen.
13–17 July 1971
Final assault on fedayeen in Jerash–Ajlun.
4 Oct. 1971
The third Rogers Plan.
28 Nov. 1971
Prime Minister Wasfi al-Tall assassinated in Cairo.
29 Feb. 1972
Anwar Sadat releases Wasfi al-Tall–s assassins from prison.
15 Mar. 1972
King Hussein unveils the United Arab Kingdom (UAK)Plan.
16 Mar. 1972
The PLO rejects the UAK Plan.
21 Dec. 1972
King Hussein divorces Princess Muna.
24 Dec. 1972
King Hussein marries Queen Alia (Alia Toukan).
10–12 Sept. 1973
Tripartite Jordanian–Syrian–Egyptian summit in Cairo.
6–26 Oct. 1973
The October War.
22 Oct. 1973
UN Security Council Resolution 338 calls for direct negotiations to implement 242.
21 Dec. 1973
The Geneva peace conference.
18 Jan. 1974
The Israeli–Egyptian disengagement agreement is signed.
31 May 1974
The Israeli–Syrian disengagement agreement is signed.
26–9 Oct. 1974
Arab League summit at Rabat recognizes the PLO as ‘the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people’.
13 Apr. 1975
Outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War.
1 Sept. 1975
Israeli–Egyptian interim agreement, Sinai II.
1 June 1976
Syrian military intervention in Lebanon.
9 Feb. 1977
Queen Alia dies in a helicopter accident.
17 May 1977
Rise to power in Israel of right-wing Likud Party.
1 Oct. 1977
Joint statement by the US and USSR for reconvening the Geneva peace conference.
19–21 Nov. 1977
Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem.
14 Mar. 1978
IDF launches Operation Litani in southern Lebanon.
15 June 1978
King Hussein marries Queen Noor (Lisa Halaby).
5–17 Sept. 1978
The Camp David Conference.
17 Sept. 1978
Israel and Egypt sign the Camp David Accords.
2–5 Nov. 1978
Arab League summit in Baghdad denounces the Camp David Accords.
1 Feb. 1979
The Islamic Revolution in Iran.
26 Mar. 1979
Israel–Egypt peace treaty is signed at the White House.
1 Apr. 1979
Jordan severs diplomatic relations with Egypt.
17 Sept. 1980
Outbreak of war between Iraq and Iran.
7 June 1981
Israel bombs the Iraqi nuclear reactor near Baghdad.
6 Oct. 1981
Anwar Sadat is assassinated and Husni Mubarak succeeds.
14 Dec. 1981
Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights.
6 June
1982
Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
4 July 1982
IDF begins siege of West Beirut.
21 Aug. 1982
PLO fighters are evacuated from Beirut.
1 Sept. 1982
President Reagan announces his Middle East peace plan.
9 Sept. 1982
Arab League summit in Fez.
4 Apr. 1983
King Hussein and Arafat reach a draft agreement.
10 Apr. 1983
Jordan abandons initiative with the PLO.
Feb. 1984
Jordan reopens dialogue with the PLO.
25 Sept. 1984
Jordan re-establishes diplomatic relations with Egypt.
22 Nov. 1984
King Hussein opens the Seventeenth PNC session in Amman.
11 Feb. 1985
The Jordanian–PLO accord is signed.
1 Oct. 1985
Israel bombs PLO headquarters in Tunis.
19 Feb. 1986
The Jordanian–PLO accord is abrogated.
July 1986
Closure of PLO and Fatah offices in Amman.
Aug. 1986
Jordan unveils the West Bank Development Plan.
11 Apr. 1987
The Hussein–Peres London Agreement.
19 Oct. 1987
Hussein–Shultz meeting in London.
8–11 Nov. 1987
Arab League summit in Amman.
9 Dec. 1987
Outbreak of the first Palestinian intifada.
27 Jan. 1988
George Shultz launches his peace initiative.
7–9 June 1988
Arab League summit in Algiers.
18 July 1988
End of the Iran–Iraq War.
28 July 1988
Jordan terminates West Bank Development Plan.
31 July 1988
Jordan disengages from the West Bank.
15 Nov. 1988
PNC meeting in Algiers recognizes Israel and accepts UN resolutions on Palestine.
14 Dec. 1988
Arafat accepts US terms for talks with the PLO.
16 Feb. 1989
The Arab Cooperation Council is formed.
18 Apr. 1989
Outbreak of riots in Ma’an.
8 Nov. 1989
Parliamentary elections are held.
Apr. 1990
King Hussein appoints a sixty-member royal commission to draft a national charter.
2 Aug. 1990
Iraq invades Kuwait.
3 Aug. 1990
Arab League condemns the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
10 Aug. 1990
Arab League approves military intervention against Iraq.
24 Dec. 1990
The Jordanian National Charter is announced.
16 Jan.–28 Feb. 1991
The Gulf War.
Mar. 1991
President Bush announces major new Middle East peace initiative.
9 June 1991
The Jordanian National Charter is adopted at a national conference.
30–31 Oct. 1991
Middle East peace conference convenes in Madrid.
14 Dec. 1991
Bilateral Arab–Israeli peace talks begin in Washington.
5 July 1992
Political parties are legalized.
Aug. 1992
King Hussein undergoes cancer surgery in the US.
13 Sept. 1993
Israel–PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-government is signed in the White House (Oslo Accord).
14 Sept. 1993
Jordan and Israel sign a common agenda in Washington.
1 Oct. 1993
Prince Hassan and Shimon Peres launch the Jordanian–US–Israeli Economic Committee in Washington.
8 Nov. 1993
Parliamentary elections.
4 May 1994
Israel and PLO reach agreement in Cairo on the application of the Declaration of Principles.
18 July 1994
Jordanian–Israeli negotiations move to the region.
25 July 1994
Washington Declaration is signed, ending state of war between Jordan and Israel.
26 July 1994
Hussein and Rabin address a joint session of Congress.
26 Oct. 1994
Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty.
28 Sept. 1995
Israeli–Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Oslo II) is signed.
29–31 Oct. 1995
Second MENA economic summit held in Amman.
4 Nov. 1995
Rabin is assassinated and Peres succeeds him.
5 Jan. 1996
Hamas master bomb-maker Yahya Ayyash (‘The Engineer’) is assassinated by Israel.
11 Apr. 1996
Israel launches Operation Grapes of Wrath in south Lebanon.
29 May 1996
Binyamin Netanyahu defeats Peres in Israeli elections.
25 Sept. 1996
Clashes following opening of tunnel in the Old City of Jerusalem.
2 Oct. 1996
Summit meeting in Washington, DC, with Clinton, Hussein and Netanyahu.
13 Nov. 1996
Third MENA economic summit opens in Cairo.
15 Jan. 1997
The Hebron Protocol is signed.
9 Mar. 1997
Hussein sends strongly worded letter to Netanyahu.
13 Mar. 1997
Six Israeli schoolgirls killed by a Jordanian soldier at Naharayim crossing.
18 Mar. 1997
Construction begins of Jewish housing at Har Homa in East Jerusalem.
25 Sept. 1997
The Khalid Mishal Affair.
14 July 1998
King Hussein leaves Jordan for medical treatment in the US.
23 Oct. 1998
The signing of the Wye River Memorandum.
19 Jan. 1999
King Hussein returns to Jordan from the US after treatment for cancer.
25 Jan. 1999
Crown Prince Hassan dismissed and Prince Abdullah bin Hussein named crown prince.
26 Jan. 1999
King Hussein leaves for the US for emergency medical treatment.
5 Feb. 1999
King Hussein’s final return to Jordan.
7 Feb. 1999
King Hussein dies, King Abdullah II proclaimed king and Prince Hamzah appointed crown prince.
8 Feb. 1999
King Hussein’s funeral.
List of Interviews
JORDANIAN OFFICIALS
(With very few exceptions interviews were held in Amman)
Name
Date
Principal Position
Abdullah bin Hussein
19 December 2002
King
Dr Kamel Abu Jaber
13 September 2001
Foreign Minister
Hasan Abu-Nimah
7 March 2002
Ambassador
Adnan Abu-Odeh
16 September 2001
Political Adviser
Jawad al-Anani
19 September 2002
Foreign Minister
Fouad Ayoub
15 March 2002
Ambassador
Princess Basma bint Talal
21 December 2002
Sister of Hussein
Dr Musa Braizat
21 December 2002
Ambassador
Dr Munther Haddadin
15 September 2002
Minister of Water and Irrigation
17 September 2002
Dr Mustafa Hamarneh
14 March 2002
Academic
Prince El Hassan bin Talal
19 September 2001
Crown Prince
17 September 2002
11 January 2007
Hussein bin Talal
3 December 1996
King
Dr Taher Kana
an
11 September 2002
Minister of Planning
Name
Date
Principal Position
Marwan Kasim
17 September 2001
Deputy Prime Minister
15 September 2002
19 September 2002
16 December 2002
