| |||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
East Jerusalem (simply "Jerusalem" domestically) | ||||
| Language | Arabic | ||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||
| Government | Dominion of Jordan - devolved parliament under constitutional monarchy | ||||
| Governor | Ahmad Shukeiri (1971-2) Yasser Abed Rabbo(1972-) | ||||
| Currency | Jordanian dinar | ||||
The Dominion of Palestine was a dominion of Jordan, founded in 1971. It covered the West Bank and the east of Jerusalem.
History[]
The West Bank was given dominion status in September 1971, after years of tension between the crown and the PLO erupted into violence: Black Summer to Jordanians, the Summer Rising to Palestinians. Egypt pressured Jordan into cutting a deal. The result was that the West Bank and Jerusalem would become a dominion, where the PLO would have some degree of autonomy but Jordan would control most economic, foreign policy, and defence matters. Soon after the dominion was founded, Jordan cleared most Palestinians out of the rest of the country and moved them to the West Bank.
Palestine was left saddled with a larger population than it could comfortably house or feed. It also suffered from infighting among the first PLO government: namely, over whether Gaza members should have a seat at the table and whether Gaza should be part of the dominion or given similar status. The infighting, and the public crawling to Egypt (which was a necessary patron), undermined the dominion government and lead to the rise of rival factions.
The end result was the Palestinian Civil War/Battle of Survival of 5th September to 22nd September 1972 (19th September to Palestinians). Open fighting between rival PLO factions spread throughout the state, followed by a takeover bid by a hardliner coalition led by the Summer Rising paramilitary and an Israeli bombing raid. The Jordanian government came close to ending the dominion but decided to place a coalition of minor political groups in charge instead, giving Palestine a last chance. Jordanian Army and police fought alongside 'pro-government' Palestinian police and militants, and the conflict was over by the 22nd. Palestine counts it as the 19th: the day the Emergency Coalition Council re-entered the government centre and declared the fighting won.