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The Peel Commission, formally known as the Palestine Royal Commission, was a British Royal Commission of Inquiry, headed by Lord Peel, appointed in 1936 to investigate the causes of unrest in British Mandate for Palestine following the six-month-long Arab general strike in Mandatory Palestine. On July 7, 1937, the commission published a report that, for the first time, stated that the Mandate had become unworkable and recommended partition.〔 British cabinet endorsed the Partition plan in principle, but requested more information.〔 Following the publication in 1938 the Woodhead Commission was appointed to examine it in detail and recommend an actual partition plan. The Arabs opposed the partition plan and condemned it unanimously, as it would give the Jews the "best land in all of Palestine... including 82% of all citrus production in the country, Arab and Jewish". Citrus was Palestine's most valuable crop and principal export. In the land that was proposed to constitute the Jewish state, Arab ownership was four times that of Jews, including Galilee in which 98% of the land proposed to be under Jewish control was Arab owned. Further, the Arab areas would not be independent, they were to be united with Trans-Jordan under King Abdullah's control. However, the Arabs were offered valuable areas to the east of Jordan, the Southern portion of the Beisan sub-district where irrigation would have been possible, the town of Jaffa, and an extension of the area south of Jaffa-Tel Aviv.〔 The Arabs objected to the principle of awarding territory to the Jews and demanded that the UK keep its old promise of an independent Arab state. They argued that the creation of a Jewish state and lack of independent Palestine was a betrayal of British word.〔Mandated Landscape: British Imperial Rule in Palestine 1929-1948〕〔(British Policy in Palestine, 1937-38: From the Peel to the Woodhead Report, Bulletin of International News, Vol 15, No. 23 (Nov. 19, 1938), pp.3-7 )〕 The Jewish leadership accepted partition with mixed feelings as an opportunity for sovereignty. However, some historians note that in a letter to his son in October 1937, David Ben-Gurion wrote that "A Jewish state must be established immediately, even if it is only in part of the country. The rest will follow in the course of time. A Jewish state will come.".〔(Letter from David Ben-Gurion to his son Amos, written 5 October 1937 ), Obtained from the Ben-Gurion Archives in Hebrew, and translated into English by the Institute of Palestine Studies, Beirut〕〔 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"〕〔 Quote: "However, even Zionist leaders accepting partition did only so as the first step toward the total conquest of Palestine. Although Dershowitz ignores it, his main historical source—like all other studies of the period—concludes that both Weizmann and Ben-Gurion ″saw partition as a stepping stone to further expansion and the eventual takeover of the whole of Palestine...."〕 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." 〕 == Creation == 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. On 11 November 1936, the commission arrived in Palestine to investigate the reasons behind the uprising. The Commission was charged with determining the cause of the riots, and judging the grievances of both sides. Chaim Weizmann made a speech on behalf of the Jews. On 25 November 1936, testifying before the Peel Commission, Weizmann said that there are in Europe 6,000,000 Jews ... "for whom the world is divided into places where they cannot live and places where they cannot enter."〔 The Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, testified in front of the commission, opposing any partition of Arab lands with the Jews. 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 appeal to restore calm. The former Mayor of Jerusalem Ragheb Bey al-Nashashibi—who was the Mufti's rival in the internal Palestinian arena, was thus sent to explain the Arab perspective through unofficial channels. 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「Peel Commission」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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