The Transjordan memorandum was a British memorandum passed by the Council of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

on 16 September 1922, as an addendum to the

British Mandate for Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine and Emirate of Transjordan, Transjordan, both of which had been conceded by the Ottoman Empire following ...

. The memorandum described how the British government planned to implement Article 25 of the Mandate, without applying the provisions regarding Jewish settlement.

Background

in Ma'an, Captain Alex Kirkbride until the arrival in November 1920 of Abdullah bin al-Hussein, the future

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

. Following the expulsion of Faisal bin Hussein from Syria by the French in July 1920, and the subsequent Cairo Conference, March 1921 they appointed Hussein ''Emir of Transjordan'', while assuring that no Jews would be allowed to settle in Transjordan.

Article 25

Article 25 of the Mandate for Palestine allowed for the exclusion of Transjordan from unspecified provisions of the Mandate. On 16 September 1922,

Lord Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As foreign secretary in the ...

, representing the United Kingdom, reminded the Council of the League of Nations of Article 25 of the Mandate for Palestine (which had been previously approved but had not yet come into effect). He then told the council that the British government now proposed to carry out this article, as had always been intended by the League of Nations and the British government. He then presented a memorandum for approval.''League of Nations Official Journal'', Nov. 1922, pp. 1188–1189.

Borders

The border between the territory of Transjordan and

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

was defined for the first time in the memorandum, as follows:

all territory lying to the east of a line drawn from a point two miles west of the town of Akaba on the Gulf of that name up the centre of the Wady Araba, Dead Sea and River Jordan to its junction with the River Yarmuk: thence up the centre of that river to the Syrian frontier.

The same boundary had been specified by the High Commissioner in September as the line delimiting the region to which the Palestine Order in Council applied.

Exclusions and application of the Mandate

The memorandum listed as exclusions articles 4, 6, 13, 14, 22, 23, and parts of the Preamble and Articles 2, 7 and 11, including the articles of the Mandate concerning a Jewish national home. It concluded with:''League of Nations Official Journal'', Nov. 1922, pp. 1390–1391.

In the application of the Mandate to Transjordan, the action which, in Palestine, is taken by the Administration of the latter country will be taken by the Administration of Transjordan under the general supervision of the Mandatory. His Majesty's Government accept full responsibility as Mandatory for Transjordan, and undertake that such provision as may be made for the administration of that territory in accordance with Article 25 of the Mandate shall be in no way inconsistent with those provisions of the Mandate which are not by this resolution declared inapplicable.

From that point onwards, Britain administered the part west of the Jordan as Palestine, and the part east of the Jordan as Transjordan.12 August 1922
Britain is given the Mandate of the League of Nations to Administer Palestine. Technically they remained one mandate covering 2 territories but most official documents nonetheless referred to them as if they were two separate mandates. In May 1923 Transjordan was granted internal

self-government __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...

with Abdullah as ruler and Harry St. John Philby as chief representative.Avi Shlaim (2007) p. 14.

Notes

External links

"The Palestine Order in Council"/"Palestine Legislative Council Election Order"
10 August 1922
The international law foundations of Palestinian nationality: a legal examination of nationality in Palestine under Britain's rule
King Hussein's official page

{{Authority control Documents of Mandatory Palestine Emirate of Transjordan 1922 documents 1922 in international relations 1922 in the British Empire 1922 in Transjordan Documents of the United Kingdom