Giggle Box Memorial to Jimmy Stewart

King Hussein (King Hussein Ibn Talal)
Jordan

Born: November 14, 1935 Died: February 7, 1999 Education: Student, Victoria College, Alexandria, Egypt; Harrow Scool, England; Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England Family: Wife, Elizabeth Halaby (Queen Noor); 11 children (by 4 marriages) Religion: Muslim Early Years: Was with his grandfather, King Abdullah, when the king was assassinated by a Palestinian extremist in Jerusalem, 1951; Ascended to the throne after his mentally-ill father was forced to abdicate, 1953; Has been the voice of moderation in the turmoil of Middle East politics and has revitalized Jordan's economy by cultivating powerful patrons such as Great Britain, the United States, and the oil-rich moderate Arab states; Target of a series of coups and assassination attempts. Office: Royal Palace, Amman, Jordan Related Sites: His Majesty King Hussein bin Talal Welcome to H.M. Queen Noor of Jordan's Web site Sources: Current Biography, 1986; Who's Who in the World, 1996

King Hussein Jordan

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King Hussein I was buried today, 8 February 1999. Though Hussein had been a progressive man, because the state religion of Islam is regressive, repressive, and archaic, all women, including his wife, who was forced to convert to Islam in order to marry him, were banned from the funeral. I, as a conservative, find it very sad that in this part of the world, women are second class human beings. But this does not detract from the greatness of the man. Hussein Ibn Talal was born November 14, 1935, in Amman, Jordan, the oldest of four children of Crown Prince Talal. Although the modern image of Arab countries is that of wealthy nations made rich by reserves of oil, the Jordan of the 1930s was a poor desert country inhabited mainly by Bedouin tribesmen. Hussein grew up poor in a modest house in Amman. As a child, he sewed his family's worn, ragged clothing, and once sold his bicycle to add to the family's income.

Hussein's grandfather, King Abdullah, monarch of Jordan since the state's creation in 1921, took a special interest in Hussein and saw that the boy got a proper education in both English and Arabic, in Amman and in Egypt. Abdullah also tutored Hussein in the duties of kingship by taking his grandson on rounds of office. On July 20, 1951, before Hussein's eyes, King Abdullah was assassinated by a Palestinian extremist afraid that the old king would make a separate peace with Israel. Hussein grappled with the assailant and was shot himself, but a medal that had been pinned to Hussein's chest at his grandfather's insistence deflected the bullet and saved his life.

Hussein's father, meanwhile, had been treated for schizophrenia abroad but returned to be crowned king. Hussein was sent to school in England, then was summoned home by the Jordanian parliament when doctors diagnosed his father as mentally ill. Hussein succeeded his father as king of Jordan in 1953.

Jordan's poor economy at the time depended principally on the production of phosphate. Hussein managed to use U.S. foreign aid to improve his country's economy, nearly doubling its output. Over the decades, Hussein also cultivated powerful patrons such as Great Britain, the United States and the oil-rich moderate Arab states.

Still, Jordan faced grave threats to its existence. The Near East was swept by a wave of Leftist Pan-Arabism inspired by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, which effectively isolated Jordan with its close ties to the West. A large community of Palestinians in Jordan, meanwhile, were determined that Hussein should not do anything to benefit their enemy Israel. They actively plotted Hussein's overthrow and launched raids on Israel that sparked the Israelis to retaliate against Jordan. Hussein became convinced that his country would be invaded by Israel. Pressured by the Palestinians living in Jordan and by the threat of an Israeli invasion, Hussein made one of his few foreign policy errors -- joining the other Arab states in the "Six Day War" against Israel in June 1967. The Arab states were soundly defeated.

The war changed the map of the Near East and influenced politics in the region. Israel took the West Bank, one of Jordan's prime agricultural areas, as well as the old city of East Jerusalem, which had also become the third holiest city in Islam. Palestinians, who by this time comprised half of Jordan's population, threatened to depose Hussein and replace him with a left-wing ruler who would support their cause. The PLO flouted Hussein's authority. Finally, in September 1970, Hussein ordered the Jordanian army to expel Palestinians. Bloody fighting drove them out of Amman in 10 days, but it took nearly a year before the last Palestinians left Jordan. (The Palestinians then set up bases in Lebanon, where they continued to launch raids on Israel.)

Hussein renounced Jordanian claims to the West Bank to allow the PLO to organize a state in that territory. Jordan, along with most other Arab countries, opposed the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. During the Persian Gulf War of 1991, Jordan was officially neutral, but many Jordanians backed Iraq. Overall, Hussein has been a voice of moderation, and has played an important role in trying to negotiate a peaceful solution to the Palestinian issue.

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