http://www.jpost.com/com/Archive/07.Oct.1999/News/Article-4.html
Thursday, October 7, 1999
New stamp to honor King Hussein
By JUDY SIEGEL, The Jerusalem Post
JERUSALEM (October 7) - A postage stamp memorializing Jordan's King
Hussein will be issued by the Philatelic Service sometime in February, about a
year after his death. It will be the first Israeli stamp to bear the visage of the
leader of an Arab country and former enemy.
Proposals to issue separate stamps in memory of Egypt's late president Anwar
Sadat and Morocco's recently deceased King Hassan II also have been put
before the government, which is due to decide on them soon.
Philatelic Services director Yinon Beilin said the Hussein stamp idea was initiated
by Israel, and that the Jordanian authorities approved it and provided the
photograph, which dates back nearly a decade.
The stamp design, created by Daniel Goldberg, shows a NIS 5.50 denomination,
but the face value of the stamp has not yet been decided. (Goldberg previously
designed a stamp in memory of the Baba Sali, and a stamp for the late
Lubavitcher Rebbe, which was never issued due to opposition from Habad.)
The design was published in the latest issue of Shovel, the magazine of the Israel
Philatelic Federation.
It is up to the political echelons to decide whether to have an international
ceremony to which prominent Jordanians, or even members of the royal family,
could be invited.
Beilin said he is not aware of a Hussein memorial stamp having been issued by
any other country, including Jordan.
"Perhaps they are planning it for the first anniversary of his death too."
Surprisingly, the Philatelic Service never produced a stamp with the visage of
Sadat, but a stamp was issued to mark the peace agreement with Egypt.
