Jordan and Palestine: Union (1950) and Secession (1988)

Abstract

This chapter revisits the decision by King Hussein of Jordan in 1988 to recognise the right of the Palestinian people to secede from Jordan to establish an independent state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Surprisingly, international legal scholarship on the separation of the West Bank from Jordan, and on the relationship between Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) from 1967 to 1988 is slim. So is the state of scholarship on the Act of Union of 1950 that brought Jordan and Palestine together from 1950- 1988. It is argued that the recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to establish a state separately from Jordan in 1988 is an important contribution to the debate as to whether a Palestinian state has been established in the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967.

Keywords: Jordan, Palestine, Union, Secession, Self-determination, Statehood.

JEL Classification: K, K33,