King Abdallah and Palestine

When in 1921, ostensibly on his way to capture Damascus, Amir Abdallah of the Hijaz pitched his tent in Amman, the British created the 'Amirate of Transjordan' for him to rule provided he stay put. A barren and desolate region east of the Jordan river, it lacked natural resources and offered no economic assets.

While ideologically he remained dedicated to the 'Greater Syria' scheme, in practical terms Abdallah soon concentrated on Palestine alone in an expansionist drive that was to underpin the legitimacy of the kingdom he craved and lend lustre to the crown he coveted.

Through an analysis of Abdallah's strategies vis-a-vis the other players involved - the British, the Jews, the Arab States, and the Palestinian Arabs - the author painstakingly traces how Abdallah went about fulfilling the ambition that drove him, showing that it was behind the ambivalent attitude he displayed towards the Arabs of Palestine and the ready acceptance with which he approached the Jewish presence there.