Hazza' Majali

Majali was born in Madaba, the Karak governorate in 1917.[1] He was the son of a sheikh of the Majali tribe.[1] He attended an elementary school in Ma'een, then transferred to Al-Raba School in Al-Karak, followed by Al-Karak School, and finally to Al-Salt school for his secondary education. Hazza' later studied Law in Damascus.[1]

King Hussein of Jordan (left) U.N Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld (Middle-left) Premier Hazza' Al Majali (Middle-Right) Abdelmunim al-Rifai (right) at the U.N committee

After high school, Majali worked for the Department of Land and Survey followed by the Madaba Court. After that, he studied Law in Damascus and returned to Jordan to work for the "Royal Protocol". He was appointed by King Abdullah I as Chairman of the Greater Amman Municipality, then served as the Minister of Agriculture (1950–1951) and as the Minister of Justice (1951 and 1954–1955) under Prime Minister Sameer al-Rifai. He won two Parliamentary elections to represent Al-Karak in the Jordanian Parliament, once in 1951 and again in 1954. He was also appointed as the Minister of Interior (1953–1954 and 1955). Hazza' first served as Prime Minister on 15 December 1955 when King Hussein tried to join the Baghdad Pact, but quickly resigned on 20 December 1955 following popular protests making his first government the shortest lasting government in Jordan's history.[2] He was re-appointed as Prime Minister on 6 May 1959.[3] He picked Wasfi al-Tal to be his assistant during this term. Majali was assassinated at his office on 29 August 1960.[4]

Smoke rising out of the Jordanian Foreign Ministry building after the explosion that killed Prime Minister Hazza' Majali on 29 August 1960. The Syrian government was suspected for being responsible.

Convicts in Majali's assassination hanged, 31 December 1960.

At around 10:30 am on 29 August 1960, a bomb exploded in Majali's office,[5] killing him and 11 other people including senior officials in the government. The assassins targeted al-Majali in his regular weekly meetings that he regularly held on Mondays to listen to the complaints of ordinary Jordanian citizens and propose possible solutions to their grievances. A number of those who had come to meet him also perished in the explosion. A number of convicts allegedly involved in Majali's assassination were hanged on 31 December 1960.

Majali married Samiha Rfifan al-Majali, the sister of Habis al-Majali. Together they had 5 children (3 boys and 2 girls). His eldest son, Amjad Hazza' al-Majali, served as the Jordanian Ambassador in Bahrain and Greece, and eventually became Minister of Labor during the government of Ali Abu al-Ragheb. His second eldest son, Ayman Hazza' al-Majali, served as Chief of Royal Protocol for King Hussein in the 1990s until the King's death in 1999, and then served as Deputy Prime Minister during the government of Abdelraouf al-Rawabdeh.[6] His eldest daughter, Taghrid Hazza' Majali, married Prince Muhammad bin Talal, brother of King Hussein, in 1981.[7] His second eldest daughter Zein Hazza' Majali is a businesswoman. His youngest son, Hussein Hazza' al-Majali, who graduated from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, served in the Jordanian military and became head of the Royal Guard under King Hussein in the 1990s, Jordan's Ambassador in Bahrain until 2010[8] the chief of the Jordanian Public Security Department. And the minister of Interior Affairs in the government of Dr. Abdullah Al Nsour.

• List of Prime Ministers of Jordan
• Abdelsalam al-Majali