وَإِنۡ عَاقَبۡتُمۡ فَعَاقِبُوا۟ بِمِثۡلِ مَا عُوقِبۡتُم بِهِۦۖ وَلَىِٕن صَبَرۡتُمۡ لَهُوَ خَیۡرࣱ لِّلصَّـٰبِرِینَ

And if you would punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith you were punished. But if you are patient, then that is better for the patient.

Amman, January 26th, 1951

The Grand al-Husseini Mosque gathered for Friday services on the 26th. The occasion was solemn, as much of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan had been since the end of the disastrous 1948 war. King Abdullah had always been reticent and demotivated about the prospect of fighting the Israelis. His main design had started, and remained as gaining control of Jerusalem and the West Bank - both inherent parts of his expansionary strategy. Yet the collapse of the Arab coalition, the retreat of the Iraqi army and air force, and the surprisingly brutal offensive of the Israelis in October of 1949 had thrown the Royal Jordanian Army out of the area that had originally been set aside by UNSCOP for a Palestinian state. From that point onward, there was no Palestine - a point seen to most effectively by the Egyptian annexations of Gaza and the Negev, that had deprived the Palestinians of even the hint of an independent state.

Blame was shared in all directions, but for the thousands and thousands of Palestinian refugees who had fled east into Jordan and Iraq, the blame landed squarely in the lap of Abdullah. Wild accusations flew in the last months of the war, from the Palestinians, the other members of the Arab League, and even through some innuendo and hint from the Israelis. The fact that the Royal Jordanian Army, which at one point had been encircled by Israeli forces, had been allowed to retreat back across the Jordan river, to some spoke of back-handed dealings and attempts by Abdullah to gain a separate peace with Israel. So, too, was the failure of the Nicosia conference placed on Abdullah's shoulders, when it came out that his directed intransigence at the idea of a restricted Jordanian army had caused a significant rift in the Arab political bloc.

The ceasefire in November of 1949 had accepted the current lines, with the Arabs losing the West Bank, Jerusalem, Jericho, and other areas that the Jordanians, Iraqis and Palestinians had fought tooth-and-nail the entire war to gain. Jordan's rather half-hearted retreat boiled the blood of many of the Palestinian National Army who had been able to escape the Israeli subjugation. The dissatisfaction and unrest came to a head in Jordan in late 1948, with riots throughout Amman. Particularly brutal unrest came from the Palestinian refugee community, who personally blamed Abdullah for failing to even retain Jerusalem. The Army, reeling from its relatively high casualty number and Abdullah's dissatisfaction with their behaviour, failed to put down the unrest which petered out over time. Meanwhile, the Israeli crackdown prevented even Arab pilgrims from traveling to Jerusalem through 1949 and 1950, and the situation was only beginning to thaw on that Friday in January of 1951.

King Abdullah would've preferred to be in the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. It had taken strong words from his advisors and even his sons to get him to call off plans to travel to Jerusalem, when his subjects themselves were prevented from doing so. Thus he had settled for the al-Husseini Mosque in Amman. Abdullah had come with the Prince Hussein, his grandson. Security was heavy around the mosque. Yet, it was only a moment's surprise when a man appeared inside the security cordon, blocking Abdullah and Hussein's exit.

Hussein looked up, seeing a subject - scarred across his arms, probably from the Israeli shelling. He didn't even register the automatic pistol the gunman raised, leveling it at Abdullah. The 69-year old King seemed resigned as the report of the gun rang out. The first shot was in his stomach, his chest, and the final ignominy - directly through his forehead. The aides behind them yelled, people were running, diving for cover - the King's personal guards turned. The gunman had time only to turn and fire a single shot at Hussein's heart. He felt the heavy impact and was brought to his knees, clutching at his chest - expecting blood. Yet he only found the medal his grandfather had personally pinned to him before their trip. It had stopped the bullet, and saved his life.

The gunman was dead in the next second, Abdullah's personal guards shooting him twice before he fell, where they shot him five more times. Hussein crawled to his grandfather, whose blood was rapidly pooling under him. Yet there was nothing to be done - his eyes were closed, and deceptively peaceful. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was without a leader - the heir apparent, Talal, is expected to return to the country shortly, yet the response of the Army and the public is not clear yet...

Summary

• King Abdullah I of Jordan is dead

• Prince Hussein is injured

• Heir-apparent is Talal