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Hussein of Jordan

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Hussein
King of Jordan
Reign11 August 1952 - 7 February 1999 (46 years, 325 days)
PredecessorTalal I
SuccessorAbdullah II
SpouseDina bint 'Abdu'l-Hamid
Antoinette Avril Gardiner
Alia Baha ed din Toukan
Lisa Halaby
IssuePrincess Alia
Abdullah II of Jordan
Prince Faisal
Princess Aisha
Princess Zein
Princess Haya
Prince Ali
Prince Hamzah
Prince Hashim
Princess Iman
Princess Raiyah
HouseHashemite
FatherTalal of Jordan
MotherZein al Sharaf Talal
ReligionSunni Muslim

Hussein bin Talal (Arabic: حسين بن طلال, Ḥusayn bin Ṭalāl) (Amman, November 14, 1935 – Amman, February 7, 1999) was the King of Jordan from the abdication of his father, King Talal, in 1952, until his death. Hussein guided his country in the context of the Cold War, and through four decades of Arab-Israeli conflict, balancing the pressures of Arab nationalism, the burdens of sheltering a large Palestinian refugee population, and the allure of Western-style development against the stark reality of Jordan's geographic location.[1]

Hussein's family claims a line of descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad. "We are the family of the prophet and we are the oldest tribe in the Arab world", the king once said of his Hashemite ancestry.[1]

Early life and accession

Hussein was born in Amman on November 14, 1935, to then Prince Talal bin Abdullah and Princess Zein al-Sharaf bint Jamil. After completing his elementary education in Amman, he was educated at Victoria College in Alexandria. He proceeded to Harrow School in England, where he befriended his cousin Faisal II of Iraq. He pursued further study at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

File:Young.king.jpg
In 1952, Hussein bin Talal was named King of Jordan

On July 20, 1951, Prince Hussein traveled to Jerusalem to perform Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque with his grandfather, King Abdullah I. A Palestinian extremist, fearing the king might negotiate a peace with the newly created state of Israel, opened fire on Abdullah and his grandson. Abdullah was killed, but the 15-year-old Hussein survived, and turned to pursue the gunman. The assailant turned his weapon on the young prince, who was saved when the bullet was deflected by a medal on his uniform given to him by his grandfather.[1]

In his autobiography, Uneasy Lies the Head, Hussein recalls how three days before that fateful day in Jerusalem, his grandfather turned to him and said:

"I hope you realize, my son, that one day you will have to assume responsibility. I look to you to do your very best to see that my work is not lost. I look to you to continue it in the service of our people.”[2]

He was appointed Crown Prince of Jordan on September 9, 1951. Abdullah's eldest son, King Talal, was crowned King of Jordan, but within a year was forced to abdicate owing to his mental state (European and Arab doctors diagnosed schizophrenia).[3] King Talal's son, Crown Prince Hussein, was proclaimed King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on August 11, 1952, succeeding at the age of 16; because this was under the legal age, he was enthroned a year later, on May 2, 1953.[1]

Reign

In March 1956 Hussein established his firm authority over Jordan, and burnished his own nationalist credentials by dismissing Glubb “Pasha” as the commander of the Jordanian Army, and replacing all the British officers with Jordanians. This now mainly Bedouin army was fiercely loyal to him, not just because the monarchy and the East Bank Bedouin tribes depended upon each other but also because, in personal style, Hussein was a classic Bedouin leader.

He navigated Jordan through turbulent years and maintained Jordan's reputation as an oasis of stability. After the Six Day War, King Hussein opened Jordan's borders and welcomed well over a million Palestinian refugees and almost instantly gave them Jordanian citizenship giving them free access to healthcare and an education. He heavily invested in human capital in his 40+ years as King. As a result, Jordan had the most advanced health and education systems in the Arab World. The King Hussein Medical City became the regional hub for treatment and surgery.

In 1991, together with an executive royal council, Hussein created the National Charter which reaffirmed democratic principles and lifted martial law. Opposition movements and political parties were legalized and freedom of the press was reaffirmed.

Six-Day War

Main article: Six-Day War

In mid-1967, Jordan joined Egypt and Syria to fight Israel in the Six Day War. Jordan lost control of the West Bank and east Jerusalem and saw its military shattered, but Hussein shored up his support among the country's growing Palestinian population.[4]

Black September

Main article: Black September

In September 1970, the king ordered the forcible expulsion of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which he considered to be attempting to foment a civil war, from the country.

The Gulf War

Template:Hashemite-Jordan

Main article: Gulf War

The country also defied the West and the other allied leaders by refusing to side against Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War — allegedly done for internal political reasons after the Ma'an uprising in 1988 that threatened the throne of the King — which alienated the kingdom from most of the Arab world.

Peace with Israel

Main article: Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace

In 1994 King Hussein concluded negotiations to end the official state of war with Israel resulting in the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace which he had begun negotiating in secret with the Israelis in the 1970s. King Hussein developed strong ties of friendship with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, with whom he had negotiated the peace treaty. King Hussein gave a powerful speech at the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin:

Full text: wikisource:Hussein of Jordan's Speech at Rabin's Funeral
"My sister, Mrs. Leah Rabin, my friends, I had never thought that the moment would come like this when I would grieve the loss of a brother, a colleague and a friend — a man, a soldier who met us on the opposite side of a divide whom we respected as he respected us. A man I came to know because I realized, as he did, that we have to cross over the divide, establish a dialogue, get to know each other and strive to leave for those who follow us a legacy that is worthy of them. And so we did. And so we became brethren and friends.... And as I stand here, I am obliged to you, to my people in Jordan and to the world, to keep on doing the utmost to guarantee that we leave behind a similar inheritance."[5]

The Wye accords

Main article: Wye River Memorandum

In 1997 when U.S. President Bill Clinton needed some prestigious heft to break the deadlock at the Wye Plantation talks, he invited Hussein, who was in the US undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer, to attend. Hussein received a standing ovation at the ceremony and praise from Clinton who said:

“The Jordanian Monarch was at the heart of the diplomatic breakthrough. His courage, commitment, wisdom and, frankly, stern instruction at certain times, were at the heart of this success. Every time he was in the room, he made us all become a little closer to the people we all would like to see ourselves as being.”

Though the agreement hashed out at Wye followed the usual, complex course of mid-eastern affairs, Hussein’s input at the conference helped to sway the participants to at least begin to agree.

Illness

At the end of July 1998 Hussein made public a letter to his brother, Crown Prince Hassan, divulging that his doctors at the Mayo Clinic thought he had lymphatic cancer. By the beginning of August they had confirmed it. Hussein's lymphoma was of a type that responded to chemotherapy, which the King had already begun and his physicians were optimistic he could be cured. Speaking on Jordanian television via satellite, Hussein told his people, "Rest assured, I am not over and done with." Nevertheless, he looked fragile and pale. It was the 62-year-old monarch's second bout with cancer; he lost a kidney to the disease in 1992.

On his way back to Jordan in January 1999, Hussein stopped in London. Doctors advised him to rest and stay in England for a few weeks, as he was still too fragile to travel. The King declined. According to sources present, he stated that,

"I need very much to feel the warmth of my people around me, there is work to be done and I will get the strength from my people to finish the business."[6]

Piloting his own aircraft as he did hundreds of times, he touched down in Amman, prayed on the tarmac and insisted, again against doctors[who?] advice, on riding in an open white limousine. It was a long journey in the pouring rain, and the king stood bravely greeting an estimated 2 million of his 4.6 million subjects who braved the elements and came out to greet their beloved monarch.

Death

Just before his death, Hussein made a constitutionally allowable change to his will, disinheriting the heir-apparent of several decades, his brother Hassan, in favor of his eldest son Abdullah. Then, with a recurrent fever, he abruptly returned to the U.S. clinic on 25 January 1999 for further treatment. He underwent a bone marrow transplant earlier that week, but the transplant failed, and the king returned home to die.

On February 7, 1999 King Hussein died of complications related to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was, at the time of his death, one of the longest-serving leaders in international politics.[1] He had been the King of Jordan for over 46 years and in that time was plagued by a single problem that overshadowed every other in his political life: Peace in the Middle East. Sadly, he did not live to see its resolution even though he is remembered as one whose efforts helped his neighbors, the Israelis and the Palestinians, to live in the peace that eluded him most of his life. In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour in January 1999, Hussein stated:

"I still feel that those of us who work for peace and believe in peace have a very, very loud voice, and hopefully, wisdom and common sense will prevail."[7]

On February 8 the flag-draped coffin carrying the body of the King left his home which he called the "Door of Peace" Palace after the peace he forged with Israel. All five of his sons were in close attendance and an honor guard of Bedouin troops accompanied the casket of the monarch on a 90-minute procession through the streets of the capital city of Amman. An estimated 800,000 Jordanians, many of them weeping, braved icy winds to say farewell to their leader.[8] The funeral was attended by many dignitaries and statesmen from around the world.[9] That same day the UN General Assembly held an Emergency Special Session in "Tribute to the Memory of His Majesty the King of Jordan".[10]

Personal life

King Hussein was married four times, although he was never married to more than one woman at the same time; his four wives were:

King Hussein was an avid amateur radio operator (callsign JY1). He also loved to fly airplanes (prop and jet), as well as helicopters.

King Hussein was succeeded as king by his eldest son Abdullah II of Jordan.

Books

The king wrote three books:

  • Uneasy Lies the Head (1962), about his childhood and early years as king;
  • My War With Israel (1969);
  • Mon Métier de Roi.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "King Hussein is dead". CNN. 1999-02-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Hussein of Jordan, HM King. Uneasy Lies the Head. London: Heinemann, 1962
  3. ^ Royalty.nu - Royalty in Jordan - The Life of King Hussein
  4. ^ CNN - Highlights of King Hussein's life
  5. ^ Transcript from CNN life coverage by Daniel Pipes
  6. ^ Mideastnews.com; 8 February 1999
  7. ^ CNN/Time “Newsstand” Interviewer: Christiane Amanpour. January 24, 1999
  8. ^ PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, 1999 Online NewsHour
  9. ^ Geocities.com
  10. ^ Welcome to the UN. It's your world
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Regnal titles
Preceded by Hashemite King of Jordan
1952–1999 		Succeeded by

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