The Peel Commission—formally the Palestine Royal Commission—was a British investigatory body set up in 1936 to examine the causes of unrest in Mandatory Palestine and recommend solutions.
Background
- British Mandate of Palestine (1920–1948): Britain governed Palestine under a League of Nations mandate after WWI, tasked with implementing the Balfour Declaration (1917), which supported a “national home for the Jewish people” while protecting non-Jewish communities.
- Arab Revolt (1936–1939): A major uprising by Palestinian Arabs erupted in April 1936 against British rule and mass Jewish immigration.
Britain created the Peel Commission (chaired by Lord William Peel) to investigate the roots of the revolt and propose a political way forward.
Findings
The commission concluded:
- The Arab and Jewish communities had irreconcilable national aspirations ;
- British promises to both sides were inherently conflicting ;
- Continuing the Mandate in its existing form was unworkable.
Main Recommendation (July 1937)
Partition Palestine into:
- A small Jewish state in parts of the coastal plain and Galilee ;
- A larger Arab state (to be united with Transjordan) ;
- A British-controlled corridor around Jerusalem and Bethlehem, plus access to the port of Jaffa.
The plan also controversially suggested the transfer of populations—moving many Palestinian Arabs out of the proposed Jewish state, some voluntarily, some potentially by compulsion.
Reactions
Jewish side (Zionist leaders):
Mixed reaction. The Jewish Agency accepted partition “in principle” but objected to the small size of the Jewish state. Leaders like David Ben-Gurion saw it as a possible stepping stone to a larger state.
Arab side:
Rejected outright. Palestinian Arabs opposed giving any territory to a Jewish state and rejected any population transfer.
Historical Significance
First official British endorsement of partition as a solution to the Arab–Jewish conflict.
Set the stage for later partition proposals, including the 1947 UN Partition Plan.
The transfer idea became one of the most controversial aspects of Zionist–Arab history.