Jordanians Palestinians The Hashemite Kingdom In The Middle East Peace Process

The complex, often uneasy, relationship between Transjordanians and Palestinians has profoundly influenced not only Jordan but also the entire Middle East peace process. At different times, Jordan's Hashemite royalty has sought to accommodate, embrace, exclude, or cooperate with the Palestinians and the PLO, and the impact of these efforts has been felt throughout the region. Today, Jordan has signed a peace treaty with Israel, and Palestinians account for over half of the Jordanian population--yet the dynamic relationship between the regime and its Transjordanian and Palestinians citizens still arouses powerful sentiments at home and can send shock waves through the West Bank and Israel. Abu-Odeh explores this relationship from its origins in the 1920s to the very latest attempts to cope with competing national identities and to sustain a peace process.

Created as a mechanism for maintaining British influence through a local patron, Jordan’s future never looked certain. Nevertheless, under the leadership of the Hashemite monarchy led by Abdullah and then his grandson Hussein, the Kingdom of Jordan became a permanent feature on the map of the modern Middle East. Under the rule of King Abdullah II, Jordan has remained an influential regional player in the Middle East Peace Process, its strategic position on the borders of Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq ensuring that it cannot be overlooked in the regional and international politics. Updated and expanded to include recent developments in Jordan and the Middle East, the new edition includes coverage and discussion of: the reign of King Abdullah II the involvement of the US in the Iraq war and the effect on this on Jordan’s alignment with the West the country’s recent economic growth, with an emphasis on economic liberalisation, privatisation, promotion of tourism and encouragement of foreign investment the position of Jordan as a point of continuity in an increasingly unstable Middle East. This volume, intended for both academic and general readers, offers an overview of the history, politics and economics of this fascinating country and its role in a region disfigured by the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Deals with the recent history of the peace agreements between the three parties from socioeconomic, cultural, political, and psychological perspectives. Sixteen chapters discuss such topics as fundamental premises needed to encourage trilateral cooperation; the way the Palestinians, as the weakest party, are forced to seek help from outside countries such as Egypt; the attitudes of each party with regard to the final status of East Jerusalem; the emotional attitudes of the parties and ways to change them; the personal stakes of ordinary people in the condition of peace; practical ways to reduce levels of prejudice; the rise of the Jordanian tourist industry as a benefit of the peace process; and the possibilities of economic cooperation in the region. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The essays that make up this study provide a wide-ranging survey of the special relationship that exists between the Israelis and the Hashemite family. This relationship is shown to have far-reaching implications for Middle Eastern affairs.

This report first examines the basic orientations of the Hashemite dynasty and Kingdom towards Palestine and the Palestinian people in the light of pan-Arab, Israeli and international dimensions of the issue. The major policies since the 1967 loss of the West Bank are examined to demonstrate the application of these orientations to policy decisions. The three major policy decisions of the 1980s; the agreement of King Husayn and Yasir Arafat of 1985, the suspension of the agreement in 1986 and the disengagement decision of 1988 are examined in detail. The current state of Jordanian-Palestinian people for Jordan: those of the PLO, the occupied territories and the Jordanians of Palestinian origin in the Hashemite Kingdom. The new relationship might enhance the stability of a settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict, even if it removes Jordan as the key player in attaining such a settlement. Keywords: Public relations, Jordan, Palestine, Foreign government.

The first major account of the life of an extraordinary soldier and statesman, King Hussein of Jordan. Throughout his long reign (1953—1999), Hussein remained a dominant figure in Middle Eastern politics and a consistent proponent of peace with Israel. For over forty years he walked a tightrope between Palestinians and Arab radicals on the one hand and Israel on the other. Avi Shlaim reveals that Hussein initiated a secret dialogue with Israel in 1963 and spent hundreds of hours in talks with countless Israeli officials. Shlaim expertly reconstructs this dialogue from previously untapped records and first-hand accounts, significantly rewriting the history of the Middle East over the past fifty years and shedding light on the far-reaching impact of Hussein’s leadership.