Palestinians in Jordan: The Politics of Identity

60 per cent of Jordanians are of Palestinian origin, a statistic which has propelled Jordan into the role of both player and pawn in regional issues such as the birth of the State of Israel, the prolonged Israel-Palestine conflict, the ascent and decline of Arab nationalism, and the subsequent rise of political Islam and radicalism. Exploring Jordan's diverse Palestinian communities, Luisa Gandolfo illustrates how the Palestinian majority has been subject to discrimination, all the while also playing a defining role in shaping Jordanian politics, legal frameworks and national identity. Here she examines the kaleidoscope of Palestinian-Jordanian identities that accommodate a complex and overlapping web of different religious affiliations, mixed socio-economic conditions and the experience of exile reconciled with daily life in Jordan. At the same time the identities of these communities continue to be rooted in an attachment to the concept of Palestine, and the unifying force of the struggle against Zionism.