The Peel Commission arrived in Yeruŝalayim on the morning of 11 November 1936. Its inquiry concerned the causes of the violence that began in April and the operation of the Mandate in ארץ ישראל EREẒ YISRAʾEL, including obligations toward Arabs and Jews. The commission’s own preface distinguishes arrival from appointment and the later ceremonial opening. 1

What does the commission’s itinerary establish?

The report records departure from London on 5 November, sailing from Marseilles the following day, and arrival:

arriving in Jerusalem on the morning of the 11th November. 2

The commissioners held a ceremonial opening at Government House on 12 November. Their first private meeting in London had already taken place on 6 October. Arrival therefore dates the commission’s presence in the land, not the beginning of every part of its work. 3

The preface records both public and private hearings in Yeruŝalayim: 60 witnesses at 30 public sessions and 53 witnesses at 40 private sessions. Those are the commission’s own procedural figures. They do not by themselves establish that every affected community’s case was adequately represented. The inquiry led to a completed report, subsequently published in July 1937. 4

How is this dated?

The primary report explicitly dates arrival to the morning of 11 November 1936. The fixed Hebrew calendar converts that civil daytime to 26 Ḥeŝvan 5697, confirming this entry’s placement. Appointment on 7 August, the London meeting on 6 October and ceremonial opening on 12 November are separate acts. The received July-publication packet belongs in the linked publication entry. 5 6

Guided reflections

  • Why should arrival, appointment and the opening ceremony have distinct dates?
  • What can a commission’s procedural figures establish, and what remains beyond them?

Footnotes

  1. Palestine Royal Commission, report, preamble and preface, printed p. ix, paragraphs 1–3 ↩
  2. Palestine Royal Commission, report, preface, printed p. ix, paragraph 2; excerpt ↩
  3. Palestine Royal Commission, report, preface, printed p. ix, paragraphs 1–3 ↩
  4. Palestine Royal Commission, report, preface, printed p. x, paragraph 5 ↩
  5. Palestine Royal Commission, report, preamble; preface, printed p. ix, paragraphs 1–3 ↩
  6. Hebcal conversion: https://www.hebcal.com/converter?cfg=json&gy=1936&gm=11&gd=11&g2h=1; retrieved October 7, 2026 ↩

Works cited

  1. Great Britain. Palestine Royal Commission: Report. Cmd. 5479. London: HMSO, July 1937. Signature page, printed p. 397, dated 22 June 1937; partition proposals in Part III. Original report facsimile: https://britainpalestineproject.org/bp/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Palestine_Royal_Commission_Cmd_5479-1.pdf ; UN copy: https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/Cmd5479.pdf. Accessed 2026-10-01.