Sequel to Samu

MIDDLE EAST

For Jordan's beleaguered King Hussein, having to contend with Israel last week proved less of a problem than dealing with the Arab world. In the wake of Israel's four-hour retaliatory raid against the Jordanian border village of Samu (TIME, Nov. 25), Hussein suddenly found himself criticized by prac tically every Arab country and buffeted at home by the seething discontent of his people, most of whom favor a much tougher line toward Israel than the moderate King has seen fit to take.

Disorder and rioting broke out in several Jordanian towns, sparked mostly by Jordan's angry Palestinian population, which comprises fully two-thirds of Jordan's 2,000,000 people. Rioters took to the streets, demanding arms for defense and attacking Hussein for refusing to counter aggression with aggression. In Hebron, they burned the car of Hussein's governor and forced the army to throw roadblocks around the town. At Nablus, they potshot at po lice from barricades and upstairs win dows. In the Arab sector of Jerusalem, thousands poured through the streets, ripping down pictures of the King and shouting anti-Hussein slogans before Hussein's elite Arab Legion fired into the crowd from the walls around the Damascus gate. Riots dragged on for two days in nearby Ramallah, where the legion also had to fire on demonstrators to disperse them. Far to the north at Irbid, rocks, bottles and truncheons flew like bullets. Hundreds were arrested, scores were injured, and at least seven persons were killed.

A Draft & a Plea. Jordan's Arab partners further inflamed the tense atmosphere by issuing repeated calls for action. Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser blasted Hussein for refusing to arm frontier villages--a step he began to take at week's end. In Cairo, the Palestine Liberation Organization called for Jordanian police and security forces to join the riots rather than repel them. Syria bombarded Jordan with broadcasts charging that Hussein's Cabinet and army were in revolt and that Jordan's "liberation" had begun.

As the Middle East heated up, Hussein began drafting all able-bodied Jordanians between 18 and 40, sent an urgent request to Washington to speed up delivery of 36 promised F-104 interceptor jets, and accepted help from the only Arab leader to come to his aid --Saudi Arabia's King Feisal, who offered to put 20,000 troops at Hussein's disposal. The United Nations last week got around to censuring Israel for the original attack, but that was small consolation for Hussein. Jordan's 350-mile border with Israel is just too long to screen, and more Arab terrorists are bound to slip across and further provoke Israel. When they do, almost anything may happen.

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