The Peel Commission and The Partition Plan

In August, 1936, a Royal Commission was appointed by the British to examine the effectiveness of the Mandate system and to make proposals concerning future British policy in Palestine. Members of the Royal Commission arrived in Jerusalem on Armistice Day, November 11, 1936. Lord Earl Peel, former Secretary of State for India, headed the Commission. While all the members were experienced in foreign affairs, none had any particular connection to either the Arab or Jewish cause. Upon their arrival in Jerusalem, they attended a ceremony on Mount Scopus, marking the beginning of their efforts to improve the situation in the region.

The Commission was established at a time of increased violence; serious clashes between Arabs and Jews broke out in 1936 and were to last three years. The Commission was charged with determining the cause of the riots, and judging the merit of grievances on both sides. Chaim Weizmann gave a stirring and memorable speech on behalf of the Zionist cause. The Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, refused to testify in front of the Commission. Instead, he demanded full cessation of Jewish immigration. Although the Arabs continued to boycott the Commission officially, there was a sense of urgency to respond to Weizmann's powerful speech. The former Mayor of Jerusalem Ragheb Bey al-Nashashibi, was thus sent to explain the Arab perspective through unofficial channels.

At the end of the Commission's exhaustive gathering of evidence, it released its report. The Peel Report was outstanding in it lucidity and its depth of understanding of the situation in Palestine. Seeing no reason that one nation should rule another, the Peel Report recommended the partition of Palestine into two states, one Arab and the other Jewish. The recommendation marked the beginning of the end of British rule in Palestine. The British Government accepted the recommendations of the Peel Commission in principle, but did not implement them due to continued Arab rioting. A new commission, the Woodhead Commission, was subsequently established to determine borders for the proposed states.