Occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan
Occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan 1948 - 1967. The disputed areas known as the West Bank or Judea and Samaria, and East Jerusalem were at one point under the full control of the Arab Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
History: League of Nations
Historically, the British Mandate of Palestine included all of present day Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan and had been controlled by the Ottoman Empire of Turkey for hundreds of years. With the defeat of Turkey and the rise of British colonial power, the Balfour Declaration, 1917 was issued by the British government, granting the entire area to the Jews. After the League of Nations issued the 1922 Text: League of Nations Palestine Mandate and the British were given the British Mandate of Palestine, it was Winston Churchill who guided a memorandum to the League of Nations stating that Transjordan (i.e. areas east of the Jordan River) would be excluded from all the provisions dealing with Jewish settlement, and this memorandum was approved on 11 September, 1922. From that point onwards, Britain administered the part west of the Jordan as Palestine, and the part east of the Jordan as Transjordan. Transjordan was given over to the Hashemite Sherif Hussein ibn Ali (who declared himself king of the Hejaz in 1917, and also declared himself king of all Arabs). He was followed by his Abdullah I of Jordan for their loyalty in expelling the Turks from the the Arabian Peninsula.
Jordan's victories
Following the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, May 14, 1948, the Jordanian Arab Legion under the leadership of Sir John Bagot Glubb (known as Glubb Pasha), was successful in pushing off and defeating the forces of the newly established State of Israel and proceeded to occupy and administer the West Bank territories from 1948 until 1967. After the outbreak of the 1967 Six Day War, when Jordan joined Egypt and Syria in attacking Israel, Israel counter-attacked, defeated the Jordanian army, and took control of these areas.
Not implementing UN partition
According to the 1947 UN Partition Plan, the areas under Jordanian control should have been granted to the native Arab Palestinian inhabitants as the basis of an independent state. However, this never happened as Jordan was reluctant to create such a state for reasons relating to its own survival and viability because the majority of people in Jordan are actually Palestinians who would then likely seek to merge with a new Palestinian state and overthrow the ruling minority Hashemites.
King Hussein rules
During the time Jordan controlled the West Bank and East Jerusalem it desecrated Jewish religious sites such as cemeteries, uprooting Jewish tomb-stones. It also did not recognize or grant any real authority to the native Palestinian population as Jordan is essentially an autocratic monarchy run by the small Hashemite tribe. King Hussein built mansions for himself and his ministers in the more cultivated West Bank as Jordan itself is mostly arid desert, he was the official Islamic custodian of the Temple Mount and adorned the cupola of the Dome of the Rock with gold leaf tiles that remain to this day.
Jews exluded from religious sites
From 1948 until 1967, Israelis and Jews were barred from praying at the most revered shrine in Judaism, the Western Wall. The Jordanian sentries would also take accasional shots at Jews on the streets of Jerusalem, in spite of Israel's protests against these violations.
Six Day War loss
Following the outbreak of the Six Day War in 1967, Israel proceeded to request through diplomatic chanals that King Hussein not join the leader of Egypt, Gamal Abdul Nasser in opening up a new front against Israel in the West Bank. In one of the greatest blunders of his career, King Hussein placed his trust in Nasser and believed his version of the fighting that Israel was being defeated, and so KIng Hussein ordered his artillery to open fire on Jerusalem and on Israeli positions which left the Israel Defense Force no choice but to counter attack, and some of the bitterest battles ensued.
Rapprochement and peace
Prior to the arrival of the PLO in the West Bank as part of the diplomatic praparations for the 1993 Oslo Accords, King Hussein formally ended Jordan's pro-forma control over the West Bank in a ceremony with PLO chairman Yassir Arafat. Finally in 1994 Jordan signed the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace officially ending its conflict with Israel, even though occasional shootings against Israelis take place.
See also
