Pop music blared through loudspeakers Tuesday as hundreds of Palestinians streamed into the Allenby's vast, modern passenger terminal set among sand dunes just yards from the wooden plank bridge.
Israeli officials say movement across the Allenby and Damiya bridges into Jordan has increased by more than 30 percent since Hussein's July 31 announcement that he was cutting ties with Arabs in the occupied lands.
From now on entry through Rafah and the Allenby Bridge will be controlled jointly by Israeli and Palestinian police. In a complex arrangement agreed in Cairo six months ago, Israel retains overall responsibility for security at the crossings.
Palestinian human rights groups have said that in the past few months, soldiers have raided several remote West Bank villages to round up illegal residents, placed them in taxis and escorted them to the Allenby Bridge which links Jordan and the West Bank.
Nevertheless TE Lawrence, who knew him as well as any man, could write: 'Allenby was so great that the comprehension of our littleness came slow to him.'