Jordan to Lay Off or Retire 21,200 in Occupied Lands

Jordan said today that it will lay off or retire the 21,200 Palestinian employees at its institutions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, which effectively turns over responsibility to the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The decision, announced after a Cabinet meeting, was the most sweeping in practical effect since King Hussein announced Sunday he was cutting links with the territories, where 1.5 million Palestinians live.

Jordan has paid at least $45 million a year in salaries to its employees in the West Bank and Gaza. Including expenditures for hospitals, Islamic institutions, agriculture and education, its annual outlay has been estimated at $200 million.

Those working for courts and the authority that controls mosques and other religious institution are exempt, the announcement said.

Reaction among Palestinians was mixed.

‘Responsibility on PLO’

“I don’t think it is fair,” said Jamila Azmi, 55, who has received a Jordanian salary during 30 years in Bethlehem’s school system. “Who is going to take care of the fired employees?”

She said some of those laid off would have to take jobs in Israel, which leaders of the 8-month-old uprising in the occupied lands have discouraged.

Hanna Siniora, a newspaper editor who supports the PLO, praised the move and said: “Those who will be hurt can be compensated by the Palestinian side. I assume that the political vacuum left by Jordan will be filled by the PLO.”

Rashad al Shawaa, the deposed mayor of Gaza City and a supporter of Hussein, said the king’s action “puts the whole responsibility on the PLO. If the PLO can shoulder it, very good. If not, then the PLO must go back to Jordan and tell the king: ‘We need your cooperation and help.’ ”

End to Martial Law

A senior Jordanian official said privately that the government is also expected to abolish martial law in the West Bank, nominally in force since the 1967 Six-Day War. He said this would “give the PLO greater responsibility over West Bank affairs.”

An end to Jordanian martial law would have comparatively little effect, since Israel captured the West Bank in the war.