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Partition of Palestine Studied by Royal Commission, London Hears

April 4, 1937
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Partition of Palestine into a self-governing Jewish dominion within the British Empire and an independent Arab State embracing Transjordan is being closely considered by the Royal Commission which recently completed an investigation into the Palestine situation, it was reported today by the Daily Herald.

Proposals to divide the Holy Land into Arab and Jewish cantons are also being studied by the six-man body, of which Lord Peel is chairman, according to the paper’s special correspondent.

The correspondent declares the projected Jewish dominion would embrace the coastal plain, which has space for a population of 1,000,000, with Haifa, Jerusalem and other Christian religious shrines to be inter-nationalized under British mandate.

According to the writer, no decision has yet been reached on the matter, but one member of the Commission is known to be strongly in favor of the plan. The Commission’s report, the correspondent states will be completed by the end of April, but action on it is unlikely until after the coronation.

The Manchester Guardian, declaring the Government does not expect to receive the Royal Commission report for another month, reports the Government “wouldn’t dream of publishing the report on the eve of the coronation.” It adds the report is likely not to be published before June and, warning that the Palestine situation is touchy, asserts the Government ought not to be allowed to make the coronation an excuse for shelving many pressing problems.

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