'File 11/32 Royal Commission on Palestine' [‎18r] (35/308)

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Any proposal for Partition would be futile if it gave no indication,
however rough, as to how the most vital question in the whole matter
might be determined, i.e., the frontier. As a solution of the problem,
which seems both practicable and just, a rough line is proposed
below. A Frontier Commission should be appointed to demarcate
the precise frontier.
*
Starting from Ras an Naqura, it follows the existing northern and
eastern frontier of Palestine to Lake Tiberias and crosses the Lake to
the outflow of the River Jordan, whence it continues down the river
to a point a little north of Beisan. It then cuts across the Beisan
Plain and runs along the southern edge of the Valley of Jezreel and
licross the Plain of Esdraelon to a point near Megiddo, whence it
crosses the Carmel ridge in the neighbourhood of the Megiddo road.
Having thus reached the Maritime Plain, the line runs southwards
down its eastern edge, curving west to avoid Tulkarm, until it reaches
the Jerusalem-Jaffa corridor near Lydda. South of the Corridor it
continues down the edge of the Plain to a point about 10 miles south
of Rehovot, when it turns west to the sea.
The following observations and recommendations are made with
regard to the proposed frontier and to questions arising from it :—
(i) No frontier can be drawn which separates all Arabs and
Arab-owned land from all Jews and Jew T ish-owned land.
(ii) The Jews have purchased substantial blocks of land in
the Gaza Plain and near Beersheba and obtained options for the
purchase of other blocks in this area. The proposed frontier
would prevent the utilization of those lands for the southward
expansion of the Jewish National Home. On the other hand,
the Jewish lands in Galilee, and in particular the Huleh basin
(which offers a notable opportunity for development and
colonization), would be in the Jewish Area.
(iii) The proposed frontier necessitates the inclusion in the
Jewish Area of the Galilee highlands between Safad and the
Plain of Acre. This is the part of Palestine in which the Jew r s
have retained a foothold almost if not entirely without a break
from the beginning of the Diaspora to the present day, and the
sentiment of all Jewry is deeply attached to the " holy cities ”
of Safad and Tiberias. Until quite recently, moreover, the
Jews in Galilee have lived on friendly terms with their Arab
neighbours ; and throughout the series of “ disturbances ” the
fellaheen Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. of Galilee have shown themselves less amenable to
political incitement than those of Samaria and Judaea, where the
centres of Arab nationalism are located. At the “ mixed ”
towns of Tiberias, Safad, Haifa, and Acre there have been
varying degrees of friction since the “ disturbances ” of last year.
It would greatly promote the successful operation of Partition
in its early stages, and in particular help to ensure the execution