DOCUMENT RESUME k ED 109 024 SO 008 453 AUTHOR Nyrop, Richard F.; And Others TITLE- Area Handbook for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Second Edsition. / ,INSTITUTION American UniL Washingto. nD.C. Foreign Area t Studies. REPORT NO DA-Pam-550-34 PUB DATE 74 i f - NOTE/ 285p. ,- gVAILABLt PROM Superintendent of Documents, U.S..Government Printing ,Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, (D101.221550--341.2, $6.30) EDRS tRIC MF-..$0:76 HC-$14.59 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS *Are Studies; ComparativeEducation; ltural Back round; *Developing Nations; *Diploma icHistory; Economics; *Foreign Relations; Geography; Islamic . Culture; Middle Eastern History; *Middle Eastern Studies; National Defense; Politics; Religion;Social Structure IDENTIMRS '*Jordan ABSTRLC7- This volume on Jordan is one of a series ofhandbooks prepared by the Forelon Area Studies (FAS) of theAmerican Uniiersity for use bytmilitary and other personnel who need aconvenient compilation of basicfacts about the social, economic,political, and military institutions and practices of variouscountries. The present volume is the first revision of astudy prepared in 1968 and published in 1969. This revision retains some segmentsof the 1968 study but is basically .a new work, with particularatilerCtion to the events of the 1969-1973 period. The emphasisis on objective description'of the nation's present society and the kinds ofpossible or probable-changes4that might beexpected in the future. The book is organized. into four sections--the social,.political,economic, and national security aspects of.Jcirdan. An extensive bibliography and a short glossary are included. (ituthor/ND) I.F!, -7 *********************************************************************** Documents acquired by ERIC include many informalunpublished * materials not available from other sources:ERIC makes every bffort * *' to obtaithe best copy available.nevertheless, items of marginal * * reproducibility are often encountered andthis affects the quality * * of the 'icrofiche and hardcopy reproductionsERIC makes available * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service(EDRS), EDRS is not * responsible? for the quality of theoriginal document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS area the best that cap be madefrom the original. * , ********************************************************************** U.S EPARTMENTOFMEALTN. UCATIONWELPARE TIONAL INSTITUTE OP' EDUCATION- TA* DOCUMENT HAS: SEENREPRO DuCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED-FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATIONORIGIN ATING IT-POINTS OF VIEWOR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILYREPRE INSTITUTE OF SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL .EOUCATION POSITION OR POLICY _ AREA HANDBOOK for the es HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN Coauthors Richard F. Nyrop Beryl Lieff Benderly William W. Cover Melissa J. Cutter Newton B. Parker Suzanne Teleki Research completed September 1973 Second Edition Published 1974 (This handbook supersedes DA Pam 5504,4, November 1969) DA Pam 550-34 90004, Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Nyrop,RichardF. Area handbook for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Edition for 1969 by Systems Research Corporation. "DA pam 550-34." Bibliography: pp. 243-268 Supt. of Does. no :D101.22:550-342 1. Jordan. I Systems Research Corporation Area handbook for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan II. American University, Washington, D C Foreign Area Studies III Title DS153.N93 1974 915.695'03'4 74 -11397 I For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402Price 86,30 FOREWORD This volume is one of a series of handbooks prepared.by Foreign Area Studies (FAS) of The American University, designed to be useful to Military and other personnel who need a convenient compilation of basic facts about the social, economic, political, and military institu- tions and practices of various countries. The emphasis is onobjective description of the nation's present society and the kinds of possible'or probable changes that might be expected in the future. The handbook seeks to present as full and asabalanced an integrated exposition as limitations on, space and research time permit. It was compiled from information available in openly published material. An extensive bibli- ography is provided to permit recourse to other published sources for more detailed information. Therehas been no attempt to express any specific point of view or to make policy recommendations. The contents of the handbook represent the work of the authors and FASand do not represent the official view of the United States government. An effort has been made to Make the handbook as comprehensive as possible. It can be expected, however, that the material, interpreta- tions, and conclusions are subject to modification in the lightof new info'rmation and developments. Such corrections, additions,.and sug- gestions for factual, interpretive, or other change as readers may have will be welcomed for use in future revisions. Comments may be addressed to: The Director Foreign Area Studiei Th6 American University 5010 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016 iii oupos PREFACE The present Area Handbook for Jordan is the first revision of a study prepared for The American University in 1968 by theSystems Research Corporation and published in 1969. This revision retains some seg- ments of the 1968 study but is basically a new work, particular atten- tion having been devoted to the significant events of the 1969-73 period. Research on the study was concluded on September 28,1973. On- October 6, 1973, the_armed-forces of Egypt and Syria attacked Israeli forces in the Sinai and the Golan Heights, areas that had been under Israeli occupation since the Arab-Israeli War of June 1967 (see ch. 2). Because the attacks were launched on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonementthe most sacred of the holy days of Judaism), the Israeli government and many foreign observers called the ensuing battle the Yom Kippur war. Spokesmen for the government of Jordan, on the other hand, used the phrase Ramadan war because the fighting began during Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting (see ch. 4). From the outset there was uncertainty as to what Jordan would do, inasmuch as Jordan had lost its West Bank (see Glossary) to Israel in the 1967 war. A few hours after Israel was attacked, Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan warned that if Jordan entered the war it might. experience a Black October to accompany the Black September of 1970 (see ch. 13).Dayanalso admonished the residents of the Israeli- octmied Territory (the West Bank) to "continue their daily routines as on normal days." The West Bank Palestinians (see Glossary) generally followed Dayan's advice, and there were relatively few anti-Israel incidents, and those reportedly were minor. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) also sought to influence Jordan. PLO propaganda warned Jordan that its failure to join the battle posed a threat to 'the Arab cause. The PLO asserted that its guerrilla forces had aright to enter Jordan in order to attack Israeli forces in the West Bank, and the PLO complained bitterly when the Jordanian military blocked an attempted entry by PLO units. Although Dayan and other Israeli spokesmen asserted that a large Israeli mili- tary contingent had to be held out of the battle areas to patrol the bor- der with Jordan, the PLO insisted that the absence of battle along the border was a betrayal of the Arab nation and reiterated its appeal to the citizens of Jordan to overthrow the monarchy. King Hussein in the meantime maintained close contact with the presidents of Egypt and Syria. On October 10 the king's Supreme Defense Council called up some of the military reserves, established 00006 military volunteer centers, and announced the mobilization of all re- sou=rces for "the military effort." These acts elicited a warping from Israeli Prime Minister Guide Meir, who observed that Hussein should recall the catastrophe of 1967 and "behave accordingly." On October 13 a JOrdanian official stated that units of the armed forces were moving into Syria to join the fighting. As of late December 1973 the official figures on Jordan's participation had not been publicly released, but foreign observers stated that between 2,000 and 3,000 men and about eighty tanks were gent to the battle zone in Syria. The Jordanians entered the fighting, but by October 22, when the combat- ant states agreed to a cease-fire, Jordanian casualties reportedly had been light, and none of the soldiers had been taken prisoner. Jordan received immediate economic benefits from its modest mili- tary involvement. On October 17 the government of Kuwait announced- that it would resume immediately the economic aid (the equivalent of US$46 million annually) that had been instituted after the 1967war but terminated after the 1970 civil war (Ke cji. 10). In addition, Algeria and Tunisia resumed diplomatic relatiolis;and the small shaykhdoms on the Persian Gulf announced that they would provide financial assistance to Jordan. On October 22, 197,3, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 338, which called for a cease-fire and for implementation of Security Council Resolution 242 of November 22, 1967 (see ch. 2). Jordan at once accepted the terms of the resolution. During the next few weeks, Jordan and the other Arab states engaged in a series of diplomatic meetings in preparation for another Arab Summit Conference. On the eve of that conference, Hussein sought to clarify his position with re- spect to the Palestinians. In a speech on November 22, he declared, "We are the