ABSTRACT
In 1921, the Emirate of Trans-Jordan was established to serve both British imperial interests and Hashimite dynastic ambitions. Henceforth, Trans-Jordan developed as a separate political unit. Nevertheless, Trans-Jordan remained part of the British Mandate for Palestine, until it achieved independence, as the Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan. Jordan's political fate continued to be intimately connected to that of Palestine. Jordan's occupation of the West Bank in 1948 and the formal annexation of the territory forestalled the immediate threat to the Kingdom, but did not suffice to overcome the deep-seated hostility which many Palestinians felt for the Hashimite regime. The role of the Palestinians in the upper echelons of the government and the military has always been marginal. The formation of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) threatened yet again to provide the Palestinians with a framework for political organization against the government. Like the parties of the 1950s, it presented the regime with a political challenge, only now the threat was even greater.
