The MacDonald letter, also known in contemporary

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

sources as the Black Letter (Arabic '': الورقة السوداء''), was a letter from British prime minister

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( ; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization and later as the first pre ...

on 13 February 1931 regarding the passage of the Passfield white paper, which recommended restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine, as well as Jewish purchases of land in Palestine. Zionist organizations worldwide mounted a vigorous campaign against the document, which culminated in MacDonald's "clarification" of the White Paper, reaffirming British support for the continuation of Jewish immigration and land purchase in Palestine. It was considered a withdrawal of the Passfield white paper, despite the fact that Prime Minister stated in parliament on 11 February 1931 that he was "very unwilling to give the letter the same status as the dominating document" i.e. the Passfield white paper. The letter itself also claimed the importance of justice for " non-Jewish sections of the community". In secret testimony to the

Peel Commission 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 conflict in Mandatory Palestine, which was administered by t ...

, Weizmann admitted that he was sent a draft of the letter in advance so that he could make necessary amendments. Palestinian Arabs renounced the letter as the "Black Letter", primarily upset because Jewish immigration continued with increasing numbers, the purchase of land by Jews continued without restrictions, and the steps taken to protect Arab

peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising f ...

from being removed from their land were ineffective. By confirming that the policy of the Palestine Mandate was to continue to support Jewish immigration, the letter in effect negated the implications of the White Paper and facilitated increasing Jewish immigration until the

White Paper of 1939 The White Paper of 1939Occasionally also known as the MacDonald White Paper (e.g. Caplan, 2015, p.117) after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary, who presided over its creation. was a policy paper issued by the British governmen ...

.Shapira (2014), p. 87.

External links

The letter in full from Hansard

References

Notes Bibliography * Hymanson, Albert M. (1942) '' Palestine: A Policy''. London: Methuene. * Shapira, Anita (2014). ''Ben-Gurion – Father of Modern Israel.'' New Haven and London: Yale University Press. . {{Authority control Pre-1948 Zionist documents White papers 1931 documents Mandatory Palestine Letters written in English Ramsay MacDonald