Was there ever a Kind or President of Palestine before Arafat? Turkish rule in Transjordan was simply replaced by British rule. The mandate, confirmed by the League of Nations in July 1922, gave the British virtually a free hand in administering the territory.
On May 25, 1923, the British recognized Transjordan’s independence under the rule of Emir Abdullah, but, as outlined in a treaty as well as the constitution in 1928, matters of finance, military, and foreign affairs would remain in the hands of the British. Full independence was finally achieved after World War II by a treaty concluded in London on March 22, 1946, and Abdullah subsequently proclaimed himself king. A new constitution was promulgated, and in 1949 the name of the state was changed to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Getting back to Arafat— Arafat was born in Cairo, Egypt. His father, Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini, was from Gaza City, and his mother, Yasser’s paternal grandmother, was Egyptian. Arafat’s father battled in the Egyptian courts for 25 years to claim family land in Egypt as part of his inheritance but was unsuccessful. By 1946, a pisssed off Arafat became an Arab nationalist and began procuring weapons to be smuggled into the former British Mandate of Palestine, for use by the Army of the Holy War militias.
