How Pakistan's Ziaulhaq helped Jordan king massacre thousands of Palestinians
After the 1967 war, lakhs of Palestinians were forced into Jordan, where the leaders of its resistance found a foothold. Backed by Iraq and Syria, the Palestinian militants challenged
Jordan's King Hussein killed more Palestinians in 11 days than Israel could kill in 20 years, former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan is quoted by authors to have said. And it was none other than Pakistan’s General Muhammad, then a Brigadier, who helped King Hussein carry out the massacre of 25,000 Palestinians, in what is now known as Black September 1970
With the thousands of Palestinians, irony too, died a thousand deaths.
On October 17, Pakistan army chief General Syed Muir extended “diplomatic, moral and political support of the Pakistani nation” to the Palestinians. Pakistanis, too, have taken to the streets against Israel’s counter-offensive in Gaza after
would go on to become the army chief of Pakistan and, after ousting the civilian government in a military coup, introduce Islamic Shariat laws.
It was the same Zia-ul-Haq, who, as Brigadier and during his secondment in Jordan, assisted King Hussein to kill thousands of Palestinians and drive out the Palestinian resistance leadership from that country.
People in Pakistan have seen Zia-ul-Haq’s role in the massacre of Palestinians as a warm-up for the upheaval he would go on to carry out in Pakistan. He came to be known as the "Palestinian killer” in Pakistan.
"Even a then-obscure Pakistani Brigadier bearing the uplifting name of Zia-ul-Haq performed yeoman’s service for King Hussein by blatantly violating the terms of his secondment to the Jordanian army by taking part in the massacre – undoubtedly valuable match practice for what he was to wreak in his native country just seven years later as its worst military dictator,” wrote Pakistani social scientist and author Raza Naeem in The Express Tribune.
How did Zia-ul-Haq end up in Jordan and what is the 11-day Black September, whose toll is believed to be anywhere between 2,000 and 25,000, depending on the source one relies on.
THE SIX-DAY WAR AND REFUGEE INFLUX
The Jordanian Army was in tatters after the Six-Day War of 1967 in which it sided with Egypt and took on Israel.
In the 1967 war, Jordan, under King Hussein, lost the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Israel. At least 300,000 Palestinian refugees had flowed across the Jordan River and settled in camps around Amman and other Jordanian cities. Jordan was devastated politically and economically.
The Palestinian fighters gained in power since Jordan's defeat to Israel in 1967, and the Palestinians began asserting themselves.
“The Palestinian fidayeen had become an armed state within the state, controlling much of Amman and ignoring King Hussein’s rule. He was the target of multiple assassination plots. The Iraqi army occupied much of eastern Jordan and was hostile to the king,” writes Bruce Riedel, a 30-year veteran of America’s Central Intelligence Agency and security advisor to four US presidents
Palestinian guerillas patrol the streets of Amman. Since Jordan's defeat to Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967, Palestinian militants gained in strength and plotted to overthrow Jordan's King Hussein. (Image: Getty)
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