Event · Colonial rule17 May 1939

The 1939 White Paper

الكتاب الأبيض لعام 1939

Exact day17 May 1939

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When
17 May 1939Exact day
Where
Palestine
Weight
82 · Defining momentDeclaration, resolution or agreement
Sources
23 cited passages

On 17 May 1939 Britain issued a White Paper setting the objective of an independent Palestine State within ten years, limiting Jewish immigration to some 75,000 over five years, and giving the High Commissioner powers to prohibit and regulate transfers of land.

The policy

The White Paper, dated London, 17 May 1939, set as the objective of the British government the establishment within ten years of an independent Palestine State in treaty relations with the United Kingdom. It provided for the admission of some 75,000 Jewish immigrants over the next five years, and gave the High Commissioner general powers to prohibit and regulate transfers of land.12

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What it meant

The United Nations study records that the White Paper disclaimed any intention to create a Jewish State, rejected Arab demands that Palestine become independent as an Arab State, and envisaged the end of the Mandate by 1949 with independence for a Palestine in which Palestinians and Jews would share in government. For the Zionist movement it was a severe setback.3

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Connected

Connected people & places

  • PlacePalestine

    Linked context in the legacy record

    Legacy context · not a reviewed claim

Found by the archive, not a claim

Within a yearThe Great Revolt is brought to an end

Evidence

Every trace has a source.

The passages cited, numbered as in the story

  1. MacDonald White Paper, London, 17 May 1939 ↗

    PalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: Section 10(1)

    Original-language quotation · en
    The objective of His Majesty’s Government is the establishment within 10 years of an independent Palestine State
    Link to this citation
  2. MacDonald White Paper, London, 17 May 1939 ↗

    PalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies · section: Sections 14(1) and 16

    Editorial paraphrase · en

    Some 75,000 immigrants over the next five years; the High Commissioner will be given general powers to prohibit and regulate transfers of land.

    Link to this citation
  3. The Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem, Part I: 1917–1947 (ST/SG/SER.F/1) ↗

    United Nations · section: Chapter VII, The “MacDonald White Paper”

    Original-language quotation · en
    A new White Paper was issued in May 1939, disclaiming any intention to create a Jewish State, rejecting Arab demands that Palestine become independent as an Arab State, and envisaging the termination of the mandate by 1949
    Link to this citation

document · PalQuest · Institute for Palestine Studies

MacDonald White Paper, London, 17 May 1939

The White Paper’s text, in the Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question (Institute for Palestine Studies).

Published: 1939-05-17Consulted: 2026-10-17

Reference metadata and an original summary only. No permission to copy or host the source’s text, photographs, audio or video is asserted.

document · United Nations

The Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem, Part I: 1917–1947 (ST/SG/SER.F/1)

The United Nations study prepared for the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (ST/SG/SER.F/1), as held by the UN Information System on the Question of Palestine.

Published: date not recordedConsulted: 2026-10-17

Reference metadata and an original summary only. No permission to copy or host the source’s text, photographs, audio or video is asserted.

Dates & remembrance

05-17 · occurrence
Anniversary of the documented date.