In June 1967, Israel defeated the combined armies of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in the Six-Day War. As the alliance of Arab armies retreated, Israel captured 1. East Jerusalem and the West Bank (from Jordan), 2. Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula (from Egypt) 3. The Golan Heights (from Syria).
After this defeat, King Hussein of Jordan welcomed Palestinian refugees into his country. Over 300,000 Palestinian refugees fled from the West Bank into Jordan, joining the large number of Palestinians who had already fled there after the 1948 war against Israel’s independence. By 1970, Palestinians made up more than half of Jordan’s population. Jordan’s nightmare was only beginning. The loss of the West Bank made territories deeper into Jordan the new base for Palestinian fedayeen (guerrilla fighters), mainly from the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) led by Egyptian Arab Yasser Arafat. After occupying Jordan, the various semi-autonomous fedayeen factions launched cross-border raids into Israel from Jordanian territory, attracting Israeli retaliation which caused damage to Jordan. They also created armed enclaves inside Jordan, especially in Amman, Irbid, and the Jordan Valley. Disregarding Jordanian laws, they set up roadblocks, extorted money, acting as a state within a state.
To many Jordanians, this looked like an occupation of their own country by foreign armed groups 反客为主.
King Hussein tolerated the fedayeen initially, sympathising with their cause. Despite complaints from Jordanian authorities, he knew that cracking down on them would make him seem anti-Palestinian or pro-Israel and US. The fedayeen would go further to openly defy Jordanian law, carrying weapons in public and disrespecting the monarchy. There were even assassination attempts against King Hussein himself! The PLO’s control in parts of Amman became so complete that foreign diplomats needed PLO-issued permits to move around. Their actions trampled on the sovereignty of Jordan. This was exactly the kind of occupation that they accused Israel of.
The breaking point came in September 1970, when PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) hijacked four international airliners and forced three of them to land in Dawson’s Field, Jordan! The PFLP then blew up the planes after evacuating passengers. Their audacious acts of terrorism further humiliated the Jordanian government, making them look like a terrorist regime.
That episode would be the final straw for King Hussein. He responded by declaring martial law on 16 September, 1970. Subsequently, the Jordanian Armed Forces moved in to crush the fedayeen strongholds — especially those in Amman and Irbid.
The fighting was intense, especially in Amman. Thousands died (exact estimates vary from 3,000 to 10,000). However, Syria sent tanks violated Jordanian sovereignty. They drove across the border to support the fedayeen but were driven back by Jordanian forces with tacit backing from their former foes, the US and Israel. By July 1971, the PLO was expelled from Jordan. This was not the end. entirely and relocated its base to Lebanon — where it would later play a central role in the Lebanese Civil War.
After the defeat and expulsion of the PLO from Jordan, Jordanian Prime Minister Wasfi al-Tal accompanied King Hussein to Cairo for an Arab League summit on 28 November 1971. There, the PM was assassinated by a Palestinian militant group that had been expelled from Jordan.
Today’s Jordan is a major non-NATO ally of the US. It became the second country after Egypt to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.
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