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The 1937 Ben-Gurion letter is a letter written by David Ben-Gurion, then head of the executive committee of the Jewish Agency, to his son Amos on 5 October 1937. The letter is well known amongst scholars as it provides insight into Ben-Gurion's reaction to the report of the Peel Commission released on 7 July of the same year. It has also been subject to significant debate amongst scholars as a result of scribbled-out text which may or may not provide written evidence of an intention to "expel the Arabs", depending on one's interpretation of whether such deletion was intended by Ben-Gurion. The original handwritten letter is currently held in the IDF Archive.〔 ==The letter== The letter was originally hand-written in Hebrew by David Ben-Gurion, and was intended to update his son Amos, who was then living on a kibbutz, on the latest political considerations. In the letter Ben-Gurion explains his reaction to the July 1937 Peel Commission Report, providing arguments as to why his son should not be concerned about the recommended partition of Mandatory Palestine. The Commission had recommended partition into a Jewish State and Arab State, together with a population transfer of the c.225,000 Arabs from the land allocated to the Jewish State.〔(OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE IN 9/37 ): Summary of the Report of the 'Palestinian Royal Commission'〕〔Report, p. 389–391〕 Ben-Gurion stated his belief that partition would be just the beginning.〔 Quote: "No Zionist can forgo the smallest portion of the Land Of Israel. () Jewish state in part (Palestine ) is not an end, but a beginning ….. Our possession is important not only for itself … through this we increase our power, and every increase in power facilitates getting hold of the country in its entirety. Establishing a () state …. will serve as a very potent lever in our historical effort to redeem the whole country"〕 The same sentiment was recorded by Ben-Gurion on other occasions, such as at a meeting of the Jewish Agency executive in June 1938,〔Quote from a meeting of the Jewish Agency executive in June 1938: “(am ) satisfied with part of the country, but on the basis of the assumption that after we build up a strong force following the establishment of the state, we will abolish the partition of the country and we will expand to the whole Land of Israel.” in ; and 〕 as well as by Chaim Weizmann.〔From a letter from Chaim Weizmann to Arthur Grenfell Wauchope, High Commissioner for Palestine, while the Peel Commission was convening in 1937: “We shall spread in the whole country in the course of time ….. this is only an arrangement for the next 25 to 30 years.” 〕〔 In the letter, Ben-Gurion wrote: "Does the establishment of a Jewish state (only part of Palestine ) advance or retard the conversion of this country into a Jewish country? My assumption (which is why I am a fervent proponent of a state, even though it is now linked to partition) is that a Jewish state on only part of the land is not the end but the beginning... This is because this increase in possession is of consequence not only in itself, but because through it we increase our strength, and every increase in strength helps in the possession of the land as a whole. The establishment of a state, even if only on a portion of the land, is the maximal reinforcement of our strength at the present time and a powerful boost to our historical endeavors to liberate the entire country."〔Letter as translated by the Journal of Palestine Studies〕 The Peel Commission had allocated the Negev desert to the Arab state, on account of the very limited Jewish settlement in the region.〔〔 Ben-Gurion argued in the letter that the allocation of the Negev to the Arab State would ensure it remained barren because the Arabs "already have an abundance of deserts but not of manpower, financial resources, or creative initiative."〔 Ben-Gurion noted that force may need to be used to ensure the Jewish right to settle in the area, since "...we can no longer tolerate that vast territories capable of absorbing tens of thousands of Jews should remain vacant, and that Jews cannot return to their homeland because the Arabs prefer that the place (Negev ) remains neither ours nor theirs."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1937 Ben-Gurion letter」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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