Excerpts from the Palestine Royal (Peel) Commission Report
(July 7, 1937)

Reprinted in Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Edited by Charles D. Smith
Published in 2001

"Manifestly the problem cannot be solved by giving either the Arabs or the Jews all they want. The answer to the question 'Which of them in the end will govern Palestine?' must surely be 'Neither'."

In 1917, in the midst of World War I (1914–18; war in which Great Britain, France, the United States, and their allies defeated Germany, Austria-Hungary, and their allies), the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, changing the lives of many of the people in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration, issued in the form of a letter from diplomat Arthur Balfour (1848–1930), tried to clarify Britain's official position toward two groups who were vying for power in Palestine. These groups were the...