White Paper

British policy paper published in May 1939 by Neville Chamberlain’s government in response to the Great Palestinian Revolt, which had started three years earlier, in April 1936. With the failure of the 1936 Peel Commission and the London Conference (held between February and March 1939) to bring about a negotiated settlement between the Palestinians and Zionists, the paper served as Britain’s official policy on Palestine until the dissolution of the Colonial British Mandate in 1948. Rather than partition, the paper recommended establishing a Jewish national home in an independent Palestinian state within 10 years. Furthermore, it limited Jewish immigration to Palestine to 75,000 immigrants over the course of five years and made further immigration contingent on Palestinian consent. Finally, it restricted the sale of more lands to Jews. Both Palestinians and Zionists rejected the White Paper, with the latter attacking several British government sites in Palestine and declaring a Jewish general strike on May 18. Ultimately, the White Paper’s policy was not implemented in Palestine, especially after Britain’s entry into World War II in September 1939.