Criminalizing the Border: Law and Social History in Post‐1948 Jordan

Abstract The 1948 Palestine War redrew the British colonial-era boundary between Palestine and Transjordan, creating a new border between an enlarged Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the newly established state of Israel. Palestinians crossed the armistice line in the early 1950s drawn by the familiarity and economic benefits of their homes and lands in what had become Israel. This article explores the application of Jordanian criminal law to a variety of border-related cases found in previously unexamined Jordanian arrest and trial records. It expands the historical lens on Palestinians’ experiences with the Jordan-Israel border by focusing on changing Jordanian legislation that emerged to suit the geo-political circumstances after the 1948 War. Palestinians who crossed the armistice lines demonstrated that their personal ties and experience of home outweighed new political, military, and legal circumstances resulting from the war and the subsequent Jordan-Israel armistice agreement.