Abdullah Rimawi
Abdullah Rimawi | |
|---|---|
Munif al-Razzaz | |
| Member of the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party | |
| In office June 1954 – 1 September 1959 | |
| Member of the Regional Command of the Jordanese Regional Branch | |
| In office 1952 – 1 September 1959 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1920 Palestinian-Jordanian |
| Part of a series on |
| Ba'athism |
|---|
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Abdullah Rimawi (
Early life
Rimawi was born in 1920 in the town of
Palestine War and founding of the Ba'ath in Jordan
In 1945, the
Rimawi and Abdullah Na'was founded the social, cultural and political al-Baath newspaper in 1948, although at that time neither officially joined the
Political career
Member of Parliament
Rimawi initiated his political career in 1950 when he was elected to the Jordanian Parliament as an
Rimawi was effective in recruiting party members across Jordan and increasing popular support for the Ba'ath Party's
Foreign Affairs Minister and 1957 crisis
On October 21, 1956, the Ba'ath Party won only two seats of the 40 Lower House seats being contested. However, its ally, the National Socialist Party headed by
As criticism of the king mounted, the royal family censored the press, parliamentary debates and shut down five news publications. Rimawi condemned the censorship which he claimed was intended to protect the position of
Rimawi became increasingly polarized with regards to the royalists, later being described by a member of the cabinet as "not being an asset to the government because he was always throwing the government against the king." An internal conflict ensued between al-Nabulsi and Rimawi, with the latter advocating a swifter route to pan-Arab unity and the former calling for a more moderate approach.[15] By 1957, al-Nabulsi had seemingly abandoned his centrist position as the middleman between the king and the anti-royalists and drew closer to Rimawi, adopting most of his policies. Rimawi, meanwhile, was developing a close relationship with the influential Arab nationalist army chief-of-staff and an ally of the king, Ali Abu Nuwar. The general mood in the Jordanian political scene was that a coup against the royal family was becoming ever more probable.[16] King Hussein suggested the dismissal of Rimawi to al-Nabulsi in January 1957 citing concerns of a conspiracy against the monarchy.[17]
During his speech to the Jordanian Parliament in February, Rimawi implicitly stated that the chief policy maker in the country was not the king, but rather the parliament and its government.
Split with Ba'ath, formation of splinter party
After his arrest warrant, Rimawi lived as a civilian exile in Syria, taking up residence in
Rimawi was a strong supporter of Sarraj and President Nasser while the majority of the party's leadership was becoming increasingly opposed to their policies. In September 1959, during a general convention of the Ba'ath Party (whose Syrian branch had been dissolved as a result of the UAR's formation) in
Since political parties were banned in the UAR, the RBP's activities were restricted to the Arab world outside of the UAR although it would be based in Damascus. During the party convention on May 19, none of the Syrian Ba'ath Party members were included while representatives from various countries in the Arab world appointed Rimawi and four other Jordanian exiles to the temporary party command. On August 28, 1959, Rimawi declared the UAR was the "fortress of Arab nationalism" and denounced King Hussein,
Syria seceded from the UAR in 1961 following an anti-Nasser coup and Rimawi moved to Cairo as a result. He strongly condemned the Ba'athist national command for supporting the secession and together with numerous Syrian and Palestinian party members who defected in protest of the regional command's position and the head of the Iraqi branch Fuad al-Rikabi, they formed a new pro-Nasser gathering called the Socialist Unionists Movement.[24]
Return to Jordan
In 1971, a year after Nasser's death, Rimawi was pardoned by King Hussein and returned to Jordan. Rimawi was one of the last of several former staunch opponents of the monarchy to return from exile between 1961 and 1971.[25]
References
- ^ Profile of Abdullah Rimawi
- ^ ""المجد" تنشر آخر حروف حسين مجلي". 15 October 2014.
- ^ a b c d e From Beit Rima Beit Rima Website. (in Arabic)
- ^ Childers, 1962, p.108.
- ^ a b Morris, p.134.
- ^ a b c Anderson, p.115.
- ^ Oron, 1960, p.326.
- ^ Abu Nowar, pp.320-321.
- ^ a b c Anderson, p.136.
- ^ Oron, 1960, p.327.
- ^ Anderson, p.159.
- ^ Shlaim, p.115.
- ^ Aruri, p.102.
- ^ Shlaim, p.126.
- ^ a b Anderson, p.181.
- ^ a b Shlaim, pp.132-133.
- ^ Aruri, p.138.
- ^ a b Joffe, p.73.
- ^ Anderson, p.186.
- ^ Oron, p.327.
- ^ a b Oron, pp.497-498.
- ^ Oron, 1960, p.328.
- ^ Oron, 1960, p.150.
- ^ Sayigh, p.95.
- ^ Dann, p. 117.
Bibliography
- Anderson, Betty Signe (2005). Nationalist voices in Jordan: the street and the state. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-70625-1.
- Aruri, Nasser Hassan (1972). Jordan: a study in political development (1921-1965). Springer. ISBN 90-247-1217-3.
- Dann, Uriel (1991). King Hussein and the Challenge of Arab Radicalism: Jordan, 1955-1967. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195071344.
- Joffe, George H. (2002). Jordan in transition. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-29538-3.
- ISBN 0-521-00967-7.
- Oron, Yitzhak (1961). Middle East Record Volume 2, 1961. The Moshe Dayan Center.
- Oron, Yitzhak (1960). Middle East Record Volume 1, 1960. The Moshe Dayan Center.
- Shlaim, Avi (2009). Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace. Random House Digital, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4000-7828-8.