Word: jordanians
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...economic conditions that provoked the unrest had been simmering for more than a year. Jordan has long been living beyond its means; a decade of Arab aid and overambitious borrowing provided an illusion of prosperity. But lately the money has begun to run out. Since last summer the Jordanian dinar has fallen 45% in value, while unemployment (now about 15%) and inflation (up to 30%) climbed steadily. In late March the government agreed on a budget-balancing plan with the International Monetary Fund aimed at paring the country's deficit and, ultimately, rescheduling Jordan's $6 billion foreign debt...
...time when a little-known Irish actor was cast as Lawrence of Arabia. "These were events that altered my entire life," he told TIME correspondent Anne Constable. "It became a yardstick by which to measure practically anything -- even simple things like human endurance." Stepping into the 130 degrees F Jordanian sun on the first day of shooting, he recalls, "it was so hot it hurt. But within a month I adjusted. I knew it would be as much an adventure as a film, and it was my business to see it through...
...little to lose in testing the P.L.O.'s sincerity. The Jordanian option, the long-favored attempt by the U.S. and Peres to make King Hussein the surrogate peacemaker for the Palestinians, withered away last July when the King gave up all responsibility for the occupied West Bank. Washington's stubborn holdout in the face of Arafat's peace offensive had bound Uncle Sam in the unaccustomed straitjacket of the spoiler. Shultz's announcement not only ended months of intense criticism from West European and Arab friends but also restored U.S. credibility and influence as an honest broker in the Middle...
Four days later, however, Jordan announced that it was laying off or retiring 21,000 West Bank civil employees, including teachers, health, and utilities workers. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir responded that Israel would block the P.L.O. from assuming those responsibilities. Jordanian officials said there were no plans to revoke the Jordanian passports held by 750,000 West Bank Palestinians or to close the two bridges that link Jordan and the West Bank...
...that an expanded Israel would dangerously tilt the balance of the population in favor of the Arabs. No action is expected before the November election of a Prime Minister, which pits hard-liner Shamir against the more moderate Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. Peres, who accepts the concept of a Jordanian- Palestinian delegation at an international peace conference, insisted last week that Hussein's move was "more of a warning than a practical step." One practical consequence, however, may be that Peres could suffer at the polls...