Jordan

A corridor between the Levant, Arabia and the Fertile Crescent, and so a route for trade, pilgrimage and armies throughout Islamic history. The Battle of Yarmouk was fought at its northern border in 636, and the Hashemite monarchy holds custodianship of the holy sites of Jerusalem.

Yasser Arafat (1929-2004) co-founded Fatah in the late 1950s, chaired the Palestine Liberation Organization from 1969 until his death, and was president of the Palestinian Authority from 1996. He shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for the 1993 agreement with Israel.