King Hussein's federation plan (in ar, المملكة العربية المتحدة) was a political program proposed by King

Hussein of Jordan Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...

during a speech to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

on March 15, 1972 that aimed to establish a Jordanian-Palestinian federation, the "United Arab Kingdom" if Israel conceded the control of

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...

to the Jordanian-Palestinian federation so that it would become the capital of its

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

federal district. Hussein's proposal was rejected by most parties involved soon after it was announced.

Overview

On 15 March 1972, King Hussein of Jordan revealed his plan for a "United Arab Kingdom", which would be a federation consisting of two federal districts: the

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; Romanization of Arabic, tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; Romanization of Arabic, tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levan ...

and a Palestinian federal district in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

region that was under Jordanian control between 1948 and 1967, with

being its capital. According to the proposal, the two districts of the federation would be autonomous except for military, foreign affairs and security, which would be run by a central government in

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

. Nevertheless, King Hussein conditioned the establishment of the United Arab Kingdom in achieving a peace agreement between Israel and Jordan. Ultimately, King Hussein's proposal was ruled out after it had been rejected by Israel and the

PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and s ...

, and other Arab states had strongly opposed the plan.

Reactions

Palestinians

In the eyes of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...

(PLO), the plan meant an end to the Palestinian struggle and a denial of their own objectives. Its strong opposition was expressed in a statement issued by the PLO's executive committee, which met immediately after the plan was announced: The

Palestinian National Council The Palestinian National Council (PNC) ( ar, المجلس الوطني الفلسطيني, "'Almajlis Alwataniu Alfilastiniu"') is the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and elects the PLO Executive Committee, which ...

went further in calling for the overthrow of King Hussein: "

e must E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...

engage in a struggle to liberate Jordan from the subservient royalist regime which is a mask for the effective Zionist domination of the East Bank and acts as a hired guardian of the Zionist occupation of Palestine".

Israel

Israel's response was immediate and negative. On the same day that Hussein's announcement was broadcast, the spokesman of the Israeli prime minister,

Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...

, denied that Israel had any involvement with the plan and described it as "negating the cause of peace" and that it "creates obstacles on the road to its achievement." The Israeli Defense Minister,

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) du ...

, dismissed the announcement as "mere words, which do not open a pathway to any agreement or solution". The following day, Golda Meir made a statement to the Knesset where the plan was debated and a resolution passed. The Knesset resolution rejected the plan:

Arab states

The reaction from the Arab world to King Hussein's proposal was hostile. Most Arab states rejected the idea outright and stated that it had been planned in concert with the United States and Israel to undermine the interests of the Palestinians. They also saw the plan as an attempt by Hussein to sign a unilateral Jordanian peace agreement with Israel, separate from the other Arab states. Egypt, Syria and Libya were among the harshest critics, Egypt went to the extent of breaking off diplomatic relations with Jordan on April 6, 1972. The President of Iraq,

Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr ' (1 July 1914 – 4 October 1982) was the fourth president of Iraq, from 17 July 1968 to 16 July 1979. He was a leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and later the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party and i ...

, condemned the plan and announced that "the masses of the Arab world are looking to all of us for unified action against the reactionary plan for surrender to the Zionist enemy". Al-Bakr proposed a Union of Arab Republics instead. Some Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, did not immediately come out against the proposal, but its rejection by the Arab world was eventually almost universal.

References

Sources

The Palestine Question, Henry Cattan
p. 305
A History of Modern Palestine, Ilan Pappé
p. 211

External links

King Hussein's federation plan (1972)
- the full original text of the proposal {{in lang, ar
King Hussein's federation plan (March 15 1972)
- English translation of the transcript.

* ttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SfdjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-uQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=996%2C6368123 The Sydney Morning Herald (March 17, 1972)- contemporary news article reporting the initial reaction to the plan. Modern history of Jordan History of Palestine (region) Palestine Liberation Organization Israeli–Palestinian conflict Arab–Israeli conflict it:Opzione giordana