ABSTRACT
The five years between the Palestine War, which ended in 1949, and the advent of Nasserism in 1954 were marked by the rise of a new Palestinian nationalist leadership that occupied itself with organizing a popular backing. The ultimate goal in the Palestinian strategy that evolved was to effect the amalgamation of Jordan into a unified Arab state—usually comprising Egypt and Syria and, sometimes, Iraq. The politicization of the Palestinians, focusing as it did on the role of Britain in the Palestinian misfortune, facilitated their recruitment in the campaign against Jordan's plans to join the British-sponsored Baghdad Pact in 1955. The assimilation of the Palestinians, which began in the early and mid-1960s, was largely a result of their disappointment over the failure of the major Arab states to unite. In October 1956, Jordan signed an agreement providing for the unification of the Jordanian, Egyptian, and Syrian military commands in the event of a war with Israel.
