SOLILOQUY OF A POSTAGE STAMP, #102-Palestine History in the Stamps-- Fouad Kronfol

Last week I featured philatelic materials issued by Egypt (UAR) for use in the Gaza Strip when it was under Egyptian responsibility. To continue the thread of the story this week I feature stamps issued by Jordan when it administered the West Bank after the creation of Israel in 1948.While Gaza continues to be the main story with the horrible situation after only a few days of a humanitarian pause, things are heating up in the West Bank and it looks like Palestinians there will be facing increasing dangers from the occupation. According to latest OCHA information since 7 October there have been 243 Palestinians killed by the ISF and by armed settlers, including 65 children.

5679: This is part of a longer set of stamps issued for use in the West Bank. They are the original stamps issued during the British Mandate when the country was called "Transjordan" with an over-print of "Palestine" in Arabic and English. They show the Amir Abdallah Ibn Hussein who was the ruler placed by the British. Note that the monetary value of the stamps was in Mils.

5680: Another part of the same set, with Amir Abdallah. By 1946 the country became an independent state and Abdallah was proclaimed King of Transjordan.

5681: This is the same set but the stamp is a larger one, presumably because it has a high value of 50 Mils.

 5683: This was the only new set of stamps issued for the West Bank using the occasion of the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union . By then the country was re-named the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1949. The attractive stamps show the world globe and different types of communications and means of transportation.

5684: The last stamp from the above set shows the face of King Abdallah Ibn Hussein and the dates 1874-1949, the anniversary of the UPU.

5685: This is a set issued for use as postal tax. It shows the famous mosque in Hebron . On top of the stamps is the inscription "Abdallah Ibn Hussein" in Arabic.Note that the over-print on the 5 Mils stamp is considerably lower than the other stamps. This makes for an interesting variety in philately.

5686:Some more stamps from the same set with the Hebron mosque.

5687: Here I show again the 5 Mils stamp where the over-print has been misplaced towards the bottom.

5688: This is one of the stamps used for Postage Due purposes (when the sender has not placed sufficient stamps to cover the postal cost needed).

5689: Another time, another historical tragedy, this 1965 stamp commemorates the infamous Deir Yassin massacre on 9 April 1948 when most of the village were killed by Israeli terrorists. The stamp shows a map of Palestine with a dagger thrust into the village of Deir Yassin and blood flowing from it. The map also shows the towns of Acca, Haifa and Jaffa in Arabic. Note the interesting post mark which reads, "Jordan, the Holy Land ".

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Fouad