Lion of Jordan by Avi Shlaim Page B

much vaunted ‘peace dividend’, however, failed to materialize, and the opposition to his policy persisted and gathered momentum. Hussein had never been particularly tolerant of political opposition but, feeling increasingly isolated and embattled, he resorted to draconian measures, including the arrest and imprisonment of his opponents. Even when elections were allowed, the electoral law was manipulated to produce results that favoured the king.Neither parliament nor the constitution could limit his decision-making power. The freedom of the press was curtailed, dissident parliamentarians were subjected to pressure from the palace, and the power of the secret police grew at an alarming rate. Far from paving the way to greater freedom and democracy, the peace treaty with Israel ushered in an era of political repression and authoritarianism. This too was part of the legacy that Hussein bequeathed to his successor. Hussein’s legacy is thus a mixed one: there were shadows as well as light; failures as well as some remarkable successes.
    In the West, King Hussein enjoyed a degree of respect and admiration that no other Arab leader could match. Just one example of it was the memorial service held in St Paul’s Cathedral in London on 5 July 1999, the first occasion since before the First World War that a foreign monarch had been honoured in this way. The Christian service to a Muslim leader of ‘extraordinary dignity and exceptional modesty’ was also the first occasion on which the Koran was read from at St Paul’s. King Abdullah II and his family were joined by European royal families, prime ministers and representatives from almost every country in the world and 2,000 friends of the ‘Lion of Jordan’. The steps of the cathedral were lined by a Guard of Honour from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. The Prince of Wales paid tribute in his address to his old friend as ‘a man amongst men and a king amongst kings’. The second reading was from Matthew 5 – ‘Blessed be the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.’ That was probably how Hussein bin Talal himself would have wanted to be remembered most of all, and that was his most enduring legacy – the possibility, at least, of peace in the Middle East.

Jordanian Secret Meetings

with Israeli Officials
Date
Place
Participants
24.9.1963
London
King Hussein, Dr Yaacov Herzog
2.5.1964
London
Hussein, Herzog
19.12.1964
London
Hussein, Herzog
19.9.1965
Paris
Hussein, Golda Meir
2.7.1967
London
Hussein, Herzog
19.11.1967
London
Hussein, Herzog
20.11.1967
London
Hussein, Herzog
3.5.1968
London
Hussein, Zaid Rifa’i, Abba Eban, Herzog
5.5.1968
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
6.5.1968
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
19.6.1968
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
20.6.1968
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
22.8.1968
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Herzog
24.8.1968
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Herzog
27.9.1968
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Yigal Allon, Eban, Herzog
29.9.1968
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
16.10.1968
London
Rifa’i, Gen. Amer Khammash, Gen. Chaim Bar-Lev, Herzog
18.10.1968
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Khammash, Bar-Lev, Herzog
19.11.1968
Aqaba Bay
Hussein, Rifa’i, Sharif Nasser bin Jamil, Allon, Eban, Herzog
19.12.1968
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
26.1.1969
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
28.1.1969
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Herzog
20.2.1969
Aqaba Bay
Hussein, Rifa’i, Allon, Eban, Herzog
23.4.1969
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
25.4.1969
London
Hussein, Rifa’i, Herzog
27.4.1969
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
25.5.1969
Coral Island
Hussein, Rifa’i, Eban, Allon, Herzog
26.7.1969
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
17.9.1969
London
Rifa’i, Herzog
28.9.1969
London
Rifa’i, Sharif Nasser, Bar-Lev, Herzog
3.10.70
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Rifa’i, Allon, Herzog
21.3.1972
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Meir
29.6.1972
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Rifa’i, Meir, Moshe Dayan
19.11.1972
Wadi Araba
Hussein, Rifa’i, Meir,