British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 50. February, 1939, The Royal Commission, the Partition Commission, and the White Paper of May, 1939.

CHAPTER II.

7th February, 1939.

The London Conferences between His Majesty's Government and the Arab and Jewish delegations were opened at St. James's Palace.

February, 1939.

The correspondence between Sir Henry McMahon and the Sherif Hussein of Mecca (July, 1915-March, l916) was officially published * during the course of the Conferences. The Arab delegations criticised the rendering of certain passages in the English text and maintained their contention that Palestine was included within the area in which Sir Henry McMahon, on behalf of the British Government, undertook to recognise and support Arab independence. It was then agreed that. a committee should be set up of representatives of the Arab delegations and His Majesty's Government to consider the correspondence. The report of this committee** was presented on 16th March, and adopted by the Arab and United Kingdom delegations to the Conferences on the following day. It stated that both the Arab and the British representatives endeavoured to understand the point of view of the other party but that they were unable to reach agreement upon an interpretation of the correspondence.

26th February, 1939.

A false report that the British Government had decided that Palestine should be given independent status and an Anglo-Palestine treaty concluded on the lines of that of Iraq gave rise to tense temporary exhilaration on the part of the Arabs and spontaneous demonstrations of joy. The Jews became despondent and on 27th February there were bomb outrages throughout the country in which 38 Arabs were killed and 44 wounded; these outrages were interpreted as a Jewish protest against what they believed to be the policy determined.

The London discussions were prolonged over several weeks and, finally, proposals were formulated by His Majesty's Government and laid before the two delegations as the basis of an agreed settlement. (These proposals were substantially the same as those subsequently determined and issued in the White Paper of 17th May). Neither the Arab nor the Jewish delegation accepted these proposals and the Conferences failed. to reach any agreement.
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* Cmd. 5957.
** Cmd. 5974.

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