legitimate representative” of the Palestinian people (Arab Recognition of the PLO,
p. 185). The severing of ties between Jordan and the West Bank arose within the con-
text of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, that began in December 1987. By
mid-1988, with turmoil in the Palestinian territories threatening to spill over into Jor-
dan, Hussein decided to distance his country, and his throne, from the upheaval. On
July 31, 1988, Hussein announced in a radio and television broadcast that he was
breaking all “legal and administrative links” with the West Bank. The king said he
was acting “in response to the wish of the Palestine Liberation Organization” as well
as to what he called a “general Palestinian and Arab orientation” to “highlight the
Palestinian identity” separate from that of Jordan. If only indirectly, he also acknowl-
edged another reason for this step: “safeguarding national unity,” which in the con-
text of events meant protecting Jordan from the instability on the West Bank. Hus-
sein remarked that “stable and productive societies are those where orderliness and
discipline prevail.”
The king’s action immediately eliminated Jordan’s subsidizing of salaries for Pales-
tinian civil servants in the West Bank; according to one estimate, about one-fifth of
the money used to pay the territory’s 16,000 teachers, administrators, and other offi-
cials came from Jordan. Hussein also dissolved the Jordanian parliament, almost one-
half of whose members represented the West Bank, and called for new elections to
select a parliament exclusively representing Jordan.
By severing ties to the West Bank, the king also undermined any remaining Israeli
hope for the “Jordanian option,” returning parts of the West Bank to Jordan. Many
Israelis, particularly in the center-left Labor Party, for years had advocated such an
option as an alternative to the independent state being demanded by the Palestinians.
Hussein said he remained eager to participate in an international peace conference,
but his speech, and subsequent statements, made clear that Israel could no longer count
on Jordan assuming responsibility for Palestinians and their affairs on the West Bank.
Following are excerpts from the July 31, 1988, address by King Hussein of Jordan
relinquishing Jordanian control of the West Bank.DOCUMENT
King Hussein on
Relinquishing the West Bank
JULY31, 1988In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,
Peace be upon His Faithful Arab Messenger.
Brother Citizens,
I send you greetings and am pleased to address you in your cities and villages, in your
camps and dwellings, in your institutions of learning, and in your places of work. I
would like to address your hearts and minds in all parts of our beloved Jordanian land.
ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS 201