A Bridge Across the Jordan: The Friendship Between a Jewish Carpenter and the King of JordanArcade Publishing, 1997 - 277 pages Theirs was an unlikely but inspiring friendship. One was born of humble origins in Jerusalem, the other of royal lineage in Mecca. One was a craftsman, the other a king. One was Jewish, the other a devout Muslim. One was born imbued with the ideals of Zionism, the other embodied the rising hopes of Arab nationalism. Yet Mendel Cohen and King Abdullah ibn Hussein of Jordan found common ground in a part of the world where life is so often sacrificed for land. In 1937 Cohen was working as a carpenter in Jerusalem when his skill and reputation for honesty came to the attention of Abdullah, who invited him to cross the Jordan River and work at his palace in Amman. Based on Cohen's memoirs of his years at the Jordanian royal court, A Bridge Across the Jordan is a fascinating account of a region on the brink of dramatic change. It is also an unforgettable portrait of King Abdullah, grandfather and predecessor of King Hussein, and a complex man of enormous wisdom and charm. To Cohen and many others, Abdullah represented the greatest hope for peaceful coexistence between Israel and Jordan - despite the fact that he fought for the Arab cause in the 1948 war. Abdullah's willingness to negotiate sometimes made him a lonely figure in a world where compromise is deemed worse than death. His assassination in 1951 at the hands of an extremist seemed to sound the death knell for peace. Yet in the end peace has prevailed. In 1994 Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty. And in 1995 King Hussein invited authors Adaia and Abraham Shumsky, Mendel Cohen's daughter and her husband, to the royal palace in Amman so that they might retrace Cohen's and Abdullah's footsteps. What the Shumskys found was that thefriendship between their father and King Hussein's grandfather had established a pattern for peace, and that a bridge across the Jordan still stood. |
Contents
Introduction My Fathers King | 1 |
Part I | 15 |
The Death of a Monarch | 17 |
Meeting the King | 23 |
At the Palace | 31 |
Getting Acquainted | 38 |
A Royal Guided Tour | 44 |
Inside the Emirs Tent | 51 |
Life Under the Inglizi | 144 |
The British Brigadier and the Bedouin King | 160 |
The Last Chess Game | 175 |
Friend Turns Foe | 184 |
Ezekiels Vision | 196 |
Murder in the Mosque | 202 |
Who Will Be King? | 211 |
O Jerusalem | 216 |
Building Fever | 57 |
The Doors to the Harem | 69 |
Nahada the White Morning Star | 78 |
The Rise of Mohammed Zubati | 88 |
The Kings Sons | 94 |
The Education of Mohammed Zubati | 108 |
Court Intrigue | 122 |
A Kings Lament | 132 |
Part II | 225 |
The Royal Palace Revisited | 227 |
Amman Beyond the Palace Gates | 241 |
Shalom and Salaam Are the Same Word | 259 |
The View from Mount Nebo | 266 |
Suggested Reading | 275 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abdul Amman Ammonites Arab Legion Arab nations army asked Bedouin began border British brother building built called camel court daughter desert Diwan dullah el-Tel emir emir's Faisal father felt floor friends friendship Glubb Pasha Golda guests Hajj hand harem Hashemite Haya heard Hebrew Hejaz Iraq Israel Israeli Jerusalem Jewish Jewish community Jews Jordan River Jordanian King Abdullah King Hussein Kirkbride knew Koran land leader Leilah lived look Mecca Mendel Cohen Middle East Minor Emira Mohammed Zubati Mohammed's Mount Nebo Muslim Nahada Naif Naif's never night nomadic Old City Palestine Palestinian parquet peace plans political Raghdan Palace royal Saudis Sayidna sharif sharif of Mecca Sheikh side stood story Subkhi Suliman Syria Talal tent tion told took Transjordan tribes trip Turkish turned valley Wahabis walked wife woman women Yehye young Zionism Zubati