JFK Wrote in 1939 That Palestine Was Hardly Britain's to Give Away

JFK Wrote in 1939 That Palestine Was Hardly Britain's to Give Away

In July 1939, John F. Kennedy, then a 22-year-old Harvard student, visited Palestine during a trip arranged by his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Following the visit, he wrote a letter to his father describing his observations of the situation in the region under the British Mandate.

In the letter, Kennedy noted the conflicting promises made by Britain during World War I, including the Balfour Declaration of 1917 supporting a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, and earlier assurances to Arab leaders via the McMahon-Hussein correspondence. He stated that Palestine was hardly Britain's to give away, referring to these prior commitments and the presence of an Arab majority population.

Kennedy described the British White Paper of 1939, which proposed restrictions on Jewish immigration, limits on land sales to Jews, and a path to an independent Palestine with an Arab majority within 10 years. He viewed the White Paper as theoretically just but impractical, as neither Arabs nor Jews supported it fully. He observed deep divisions, with Arabs rejecting continued Jewish immigration and Jews opposing limits on their national aspirations.

He suggested that the only feasible solution at the time would involve dividing Palestine into two autonomous districts with self-government for each group, while keeping Jerusalem as an independent unit. The letter is preserved in the archives of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

The British Mandate for Palestine, established by the League of Nations in 1922, incorporated the Balfour Declaration and governed the territory until Britain's withdrawal in 1948. The region had been part of the Ottoman Empire until its defeat in World War I.