Abdullah el-Tell

Who is Abdullah el-Tell?

Abdullah el-Tell served in the Transjordanian Arab Legion during the 1948 war in Palestine rising from the rank of company commander to become Military Governor of the Old City of Jerusalem. He was later accused of being involved in the assassination of King Abdullah I and spent many years in Egypt before returning to Jordan in 1967.

El-Tell was born into a wealthy family in Irbid just as the Ottoman army were retreating from the town. His mother held him up to the window to witness the soldiers leaving. His secondary education was in Egypt. When he was 18 years old, he was jailed for demonstrating against the British. In 1941, he joined the British Army and in 1942 completed an officer training course in the Suez Canal area.