Palestine Maps: British 1937 Peel Commission Proposed Partition Plan

Background information can some times clarify what you think you understand. In order to move the Jews from Europe, the Zion movement sold the British on the idea of going back to the land in which they came or left. That land now belonged to the Palestinians. The British used their power to get the Zionist in there by creating this problem. The Zionist with Americas Assistance help put them in control. Wow that helps me see that the Jewish People plotted and schemed to take the Palestinian land and now control the region with the U.S's help. That is simply evil. Now the American people through military and monotary help, help Irael oppress the Palestinians. This just doesn't seem just.

Also another thing that needs to be mentioned in refutation of the claims made by the poster called "Michael" back in October 2009; is that all these claims of who allegedly had a "nationalism" first really aren't important. Because even European Zionist Jews say they created their colonialist doctrine of evil Zionism allegedly in response to European Christian discrimination or "anti-Semitism" (putting aside the fact that European Jews aka Ashkenazis are Khazar Russians and are not Semitic at all).

I have demonstrated via "Israeli" academic Haim Gerber (of Hebrew University in Zionist "Israel") that Palestine and Palestinians were clear territorial and citizenship terms as far back as even the Mamluks in the 13th century CE (putting aside the term going all the way back to the Romans in the 1st century CE and that the Palestinians are descendants of the original inhabitants of the land of Palestine the Canaanites aka Canaan).

One last huge point to keep in mind, "nationalism" in the modern context is a very recent phenomenon in historical terms. "Nationalism" as we know it now really only began around the 17th or 18th centuries CE in Europe. Until that time most people viewed themselves as simply part of a tribe or city not a united nation. But again even Haim Gerber refutes you, Palestine has always existed!

Just see how Peel commission divides the entire area. Parcels of land scattered here and there. One nation but splintered at 2-3 places. They did the same with Pakistan out of India - East & West Pakistan. very cunning. Taking benefit of the divided people.

If the Palestinians had accepted the Peel Commission plan in 1937, it would have given the Jews a homeland on the eve of WWII. Hundreds of thousands of Jews escaping eastern Europe would have had a place to go, where few other countries accepted them (and created quotas). In essence, the acceptance of this plan by the Arabs may have prevented the Holocaust.

Unfortunately, the land was under the jurisdiction of the British. It was not a sovereign country of Palestine. The Zionist movement, which was established more then forty years before this plan, had a true presence in Palestine. Instead of using diplomatic means, the Palestinians (rather former Ottoman Turks) used violence against the Jews (although the Jews were not inoccent either). My point is, although the "Palestinian people" had lived on this land for a great deal of time, their nationalist movement was only developed after the introduction of Zionism. The Jews had an equal number of rights to the land, and if the plan had been accepted, well there may as well have been peace in the Middle East today...

As an answer to Phyllis Berry: Apart from the ideological consideration - do you give up 1/3 of your land to foreign colonists who came when your land was occupied by a foreign imperial power that refused you your political rights and democratic administration of your own land - there are also more practical consideration for why the deal was rejected:

1) The map simply did not correspond to the realities on the ground. The Jews did not own that amount of land, (purchased only about 6% by that time, though it was the highest graded land in the land), and the plan was giving them much that they simply had no right to.
2) There were also economic considerations, and these may in fact have been the most important ones.Palestine had two major revenue sources - Haifa as an industrial centre, and the orange groves in the Galilee in the North. In fact the country was dadngerously dependent on the citrus industry, as the British administration had failed to achieve any considerable investment in the rest of the country, and the inflow of capital by the Zionist side aided almost exclusively their own privileged enclave (by that time the Zionist had managed to secure a distinct economic regime in their own areas, and maintained the boycott on Arab labour). Most of the land on the Galilee however belonged to Arabs, and though the Zionists were more productive due to their use of imported technology, the Palestinian growers still produced the majority. If you notice now, the map grants to the Jews Haifa, was to remain in Jewish jurisdiction in the small Arab enclave, and the entirey of the Galilee, which also possessed the best land. The image for the Palestinian side is misleading. A large amount of the land in the Palestinian state is simply the Negev, which is a dessert, while the Eastern Areas are the hilly country, which is less suitable for cultivation. The Palestinian state would be destined for impoverishment.

3) But another very important factor which the map does not reveal, was that the Peel proposals called for forced transfer of the Arabs living in the area to be the Jewish state, a forced transfer of more than a hundred thousand. This was of course completely unacceptable to the Palestinians

Imagine someone comming to your country and saying "hey, i'm going to give 1/3 of your coutntry to these foreigners, what'd you say?".

That's why.