Word: husseins
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Whether the King dealt from strength or frustration, his move was the logical culmination of a series of disappointments. Through the eight months of the Palestinian intifadeh, or uprising, Hussein has found Jordan's role and influence steadily diminished in the West Bank. While the King has a keen interest in easing the living conditions for West Bank Palestinians, fellow leaders in the Arab world have persistently refused to recognize his efforts. Jordan's financial and political efforts on behalf of the West Bank have provoked Arab criticism that the King is trying to usurp the P.L.O.'s role. Hussein...
...Hussein's patience was already strained, the summit in Algiers pushed it to the snapping point. During the three-day meeting, Hussein, whose government spends up to $70 million annually on administration in the West Bank, appealed to Arab leaders to honor past financial commitments, as well as new ones, to both the P.L.O. and Jordan. He was turned down on both counts. Instead, the summiteers voted to pay the P.L.O. $128 million directly to defray the costs of the intifadeh so far, plus $43 million a month to keep the uprising alive. (Not a dinar of that pledge...
...Hussein's frustration also extends to the U.S. and Israel. When Washington renewed its attempts last March to broker a settlement in the Middle East, Hussein, unlike some of his Arab brethren, attempted to promote the initiative. At the Reagan Administration's bidding, he approached the P.L.O. with the notion of forming a joint delegation for future negotiations. But . Hussein received little support from Washington, which declined to press Israel to accept a land-for-peace exchange. Says Robert Neumann, a former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia: "Hussein finally got disgusted with the American efforts...
Israel, meanwhile, refused to make the slightest concession to help smooth the way toward an international peace conference sought by Hussein and other Arab leaders. At least one comment in Hussein's speech last week was aimed directly at Israeli hawks. "Jordan is not Palestine," the King noted. Many Israeli rightists, hardened by the turmoil of the intifadeh, have come to support the view promoted by former Defense Minister Ariel Sharon that Jordan should be the Palestinian homeland and that the West Bank should be annexed by Israel. If large numbers of Palestinians from the West Bank were forced into...
...Hussein's bitter gambit may be an attempt to force a recognition of his central role in the peace process. It would be a vindication for the King if Arafat fails to live up to the responsibilities thrust upon him and is compelled by his constituency to return -- kaffiyeh in hand -- to plead for help from the King. "Behind Hussein's action is his conviction that Arafat won't be able to pull it off," says Joseph Sisco, former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Near East Affairs...