69-626: The Peel Commission , formally known as the Palestine Royal Commission , was a British Royal Commission of Inquiry, headed by Lord Peel , appointed in 1936 to investigate the causes of conflict in Mandatory Palestine , which was administered by the United Kingdom , following a six-month-long Arab general strike . On 7 July 1937, the commission published a report that, for the first time, stated that
138-413: A commission of inquiry . Such an inquiry has considerable powers, typically equivalent or greater than those of a judge but restricted to the terms of reference for which it was created. These powers may include subpoenaing witnesses, notably video evidences, taking evidence under oath and requesting documents. The commission is created by the head of state (the sovereign, or their representative in
207-637: A Mandate for the Holy places; the frontiers; the need for Inter-State Subvention; the need for British Subvention; tariffs and ports; nationality; civil service; Industrial concessions; and the exchange of land and populations. A Treaty system based on the Iraqi-Syrian precedent, proposed: Permanent mandates for the Jerusalem area and "corridor" stretching to the Mediterranean coast at Jaffa —and
276-425: A century of economic development of the littoral region, with, apart from Jaffa and Gaza, Palestinians dispossessed of the essential rural and urban heritage that had evolved over the preceding century of coastal development. Jerusalem was placed outside the future Palestinian state. Palestinians were shocked both by the declaration their land would be divided, and that they themselves would be denied statehood (but only
345-461: A common state was remote due to the highly nationalistic natures of the two communities. On the nature of the Yishuv , it wrote that: "The Jewish National Home is no longer an experiment. The growth of its population has been accompanied by political, social and economic developments along the lines laid down at the outset. The chief novelty is the urban and industrial development. The contrast between
414-476: A few cases—compelling all government officials to aid in the execution of the commission. The results of royal commissions are published in reports, often massive, of findings containing policy recommendations. Due to the verbose nature of the titles of these formal documents they are commonly known by the name of the commission's chair. For example, the “Royal Commission into whether there has been corrupt or criminal conduct by any Western Australian Police Officer”
483-748: A foolhardy strategy, while the Nashashibis and Jordan's King Abdullah initially supported partition, a rift which led the Nashashibis to leave the Arab Higher Committee (AHC). In 1937, the US Consul General at Jerusalem reported to the State Department that Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem , refused the principle of partition and declined to consider it. The Consul said the emir Abdullah urged acceptance on
552-582: A large number of Arabs (a large minority or even a majority) in the land designated for a Jewish state. The solution proposed by the Peel Commission was partition. The Jews were to gain statehood in 20 percent of the territory of Palestine, including most of the coastline and some of the country's most fertile agricultural land, in the Jezreel Valley and the Galilee . The Arabs were allotted
621-560: A peaceful settlement in terms of an undivided Palestine. According to Benny Morris , Ben-Gurion and Weizmann saw it "as a stepping stone to some further expansion and the eventual takeover of the whole of Palestine". With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, The United Kingdom was given a mandate by the League of Nations to administer the region known as Palestine. The mandate continued in force until
690-603: A subvention to the Arab State when Partition comes into effect. Citing the separation of Sind from Bombay and of Burma from the Indian Empire , as precedents for such financial arrangement. The report stated that if Partition is to be effective in promoting a final settlement it must mean more than drawing a frontier and establishing two States. Sooner or later there should be a transfer of land and, as far as possible, an exchange of population . Citing as precedent
759-628: A union with Transjordan), while the Jewish state, extending over a third of the country, would absorb the whole of the Galilee, where an overwhelming percentage of the land was owned by Arabs and Jews had only a slender presence. In compensation, the Arabs were offered valuable areas to the east of Jordan and the southern portion of the Beisan sub-district where irrigation would have been possible. Indignation
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#1732781043269828-710: Is known as a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry. Royal commissions are the highest form of inquiry on matters of public importance. A royal commission is formally established by the Governor-General on behalf of the Crown and on the advice of government Ministers. The government decides the terms of reference, provides the funding and appoints the commissioners, who are selected on the basis of their independence and qualifications. They are never serving politicians. Royal commissions are usually chaired by one or more notable figures. Because of their quasi-judicial powers
897-680: Is known as the Kennedy Royal Commission . While these reports are often quite influential, with the government enacting some or all recommendations into law, the work of some commissions have been almost completely ignored by the government. In other cases, where the commissioner has departed from the Warranted terms, the commission has been dissolved by a superior court. William Peel, 1st Earl Peel William Robert Wellesley Peel, 1st Earl Peel , (7 January 1867 – 28 September 1937), 2nd Viscount Peel from 1912 to 1929,
966-482: Is useless." The summary report statement concerning the possibility of lasting settlement states: "An irrepressible conflict has arisen between two national communities within the narrow bounds of one small country. There is no common ground between them. Their national aspirations are incompatible. The Arabs desire to revive the traditions of the Arab golden age. The Jews desire to show what they can achieve when restored to
1035-519: The 1929 general election . In 1929, Peel was created Viscount Clanfield , of Clanfield in the County of Southampton, and Earl Peel in that year's Dissolution Honours . When a Conservative-dominated National Government was formed after the 1931 election , he became Lord Privy Seal but held that office for only two months and left government in November. In 1932, he was appointed chairman of
1104-630: The Bloudan Conference of 1937 , parties from all over the Arab world rejected both the partition and establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, thus claiming all of Palestine. Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies . They have been held in the United Kingdom , Australia , Canada , New Zealand , Norway , Malaysia , Mauritius and Saudi Arabia . In republics an equivalent entity may be termed
1173-698: The British Mandate of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. The grandson of a Conservative prime minister, he was unusual even for his period in the number of political parties for which he was elected. He began as a member of the Moderate Party on the London County Council and later became the leader of the renamed Municipal Reform Party ; he was then elected as an MP for the Liberal Unionists and then for
1242-583: The Conservative Party before he inherited his seat in the Lords in 1912. He also served as a minister in governments led by Liberal, Conservative and Labour prime ministers. His ministerial career began as Under-Secretary of State for War in 1919, and he entered the cabinet in 1922 as Secretary of State for India and held a number of other ministerial positions. The eldest son of Arthur Peel, 1st Viscount Peel , and Adelaide Dugdale, William Peel
1311-528: The League of Nations Mandate had become unworkable and recommended partition. The British cabinet endorsed the Partition plan in principle, but requested more information. Following the publication, in 1938 the Woodhead Commission was appointed to examine it in detail and recommend an actual partition plan. The Arab leadership opposed the partition plan. The Arab Higher Committee opposed
1380-535: The Nashashibi family of notables could have consolidated his rule and left Husseini powerless. The Palestinians also opposed being consigned to the far more economically feeble society of the Transjordan . The al-Husayni family therefore initially unilaterally boycotted the Peel Commission, which the Nashashibis (who had strong roots in both the littoral region and Jerusalem) and other Arab leaders considered
1449-593: The 1923 Greek and Turkish exchange , which addressed the constant friction between their minorities. While noting the absence of cultivable land to resettle the Arabs, which would necessitate the execution of large-scale plans for irrigation, water-storage, and development in Trans-Jordan, Beersheba and the Jordan Valley . The population exchange, if carried out, would have involved the transfer of up to 225,000 Arabs and 1,250 Jews. Although some factions of
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#17327810432691518-759: The Arab perspective through unofficial channels. In 1981 it was disclosed that the Jewish Agency Executive Political Department had installed microphones in the room in which the commission was meeting and Ben Gurion was able to read transcripts of evidence held in camera. The Chairman of the Commission was William Peel, 1st Earl Peel and the Vice-Chairman was Sir Horace Rumbold, 9th Baronet . The other members were Sir Laurie Hammond , Sir Morris Carter , Sir Harold Morris , and Reginald Coupland . The causes of
1587-482: The Arab rebellion that broke out in the previous year were judged to be First, the desire of the Arabs for national independence; secondly, their antagonism to the establishment of the Jewish National Home in Palestine, quickened by their fear of Jewish domination. Among contributory causes were the effect on Arab opinion of the attainment of national independence by ‘Iraq, Trans-Jordan, Egypt, Syria and
1656-447: The Arabs, that they are growing up to be fellow-citizens with Arabs in a common Palestinian state, is only recognised in the teaching of a little Arabic in the secondary schools... So far, in fact, from facilitating a better understanding between the races, the Jewish educational system is making it more and more difficult as, year by year, its production of eager Jewish nationalists mounts up." The committee concluded that Arab nationalism
1725-517: The British appointed the Woodhead Commission to "examine the Peel Commission plan in detail and to recommend an actual partition plan". The Woodhead Commission considered three different plans, one of which was based on the Peel plan. Reporting in 1938, the Commission rejected the Peel plan primarily on the grounds that it could not be implemented without a massive forced transfer of Arabs (an option that
1794-567: The British government had already ruled out). With dissent from some of its members, the Commission instead recommended a plan that would leave the Galilee under British mandate, but emphasized serious problems with it that included a lack of financial self-sufficiency of the proposed Arab State. The British Government accompanied the publication of the Woodhead Report by a statement of policy rejecting partition as impracticable due to "political, administrative and financial difficulties". At
1863-590: The Department of National Service in the coalition government of David Lloyd George . In 1919, Peel became Under-Secretary of State for War and a member of the Privy Council . Two years later, he became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for Transport . He entered the cabinet in 1922 as Secretary of State for India , and, after the downfall of Lloyd George's coalition, continued to hold
1932-511: The Jewish education system, which was causing a rise in Jewish nationalism, writing that "from the ages of three or four years, when children enter the kindergarten to be taught Hebrew if they do not know it already, pride in the past of Jewry and in the National Home as an exclusively and intensely Jewish achievement is the dynamic centre-point of their whole intellectual development. The idea that they are to share their life in any way with
2001-527: The Jews in Poland." They wrote that "The continued impact of a highly intelligent and enterprising race, backed by large financial resources, on a comparatively poor indigenous community, on a different cultural level, may produce in time serious reactions." The Commission found that "though the Arabs have benefited by the development of the country owing to Jewish immigration, this has had no conciliatory effect. On
2070-479: The Lebanon; the rush of Jewish immigrants escaping from Central and Eastern Europe; the inequality of opportunity enjoyed by Arabs and Jews respectively in placing their case before Your Majesty’s Government and the public; the growth of Arab mistrust; Arab alarm at the continued purchase of Arab land by the intensive character and the "modernism" of Jewish nationalism; and lastly the general uncertainty, accentuated by
2139-485: The Mandatory under conditions of great difficulty by "holding the balance" between Jews and Arabs. Repeated attempts to conciliate either race have only increased the trouble. The situation in Palestine has reached a deadlock. Development of local autonomy and selfgoverning institutions, this also has been hampered. The Commission concluded that the prospect of a unified Palestine with Jews and Arabs as fellow citizens in
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2208-482: The Nashashibis making a U-turn, publishing their rejection of the plan two days before the AHC. They argued that the creation of a Jewish state and lack of independent Palestine was a betrayal of the word given by Britain, and emphatically rejected the idea of giving land to the Jews. This objection was accompanied by a proposal that Britain adhere to its promise of a sovereign democratic state with constitutional guarantees for
2277-640: The Palestinian Arab leadership initially supported partition, a wide spectrum of Palestinian Arab society rejected the plan. There was widespread public opposition including in the media and by religious figures. According to Henry Laurens , the Arabs saw the publication of the plan as a ringing disavowal of every key undertaking the Mandatory authorities had made since its inception, that there would be no separate Jewish state, no land expropriations and no expulsions of people. The proposed land swaps and population transfers were seen as annulling and inverting
2346-406: The Peel proposal, before transfer, there would be 1,250 Jews in the proposed Arab state, while there would be 225,000 Arabs in the Jewish state. The Peel proposal suggested a population transfer based on the model of Greece and Turkey in 1923 , which would have been "in the last resort ... compulsory". It was understood on all sides that there was no way of dividing the land which would not have meant
2415-704: The Supreme Moslem Council on the one hand, and the Jewish Agency allied with the Va'ad Leumi on the other – who make a stronger appeal to the natural loyalty of the Arab and the Jews than does the Government of Palestine. The sincere attempts of the Government to treat the two races impartially have not improved the relations between them. Nor has the policy of conciliating Arab opposition been successful. The events of last year proved that conciliation
2484-625: The United Kingdom withdrew from it in 1948. The solution led to other problems, however, as the British sought to honor the Balfour Declaration while protecting the rights of the prior inhabitants of the territory. The British government investigated numerous possibilities for the region, including partition . The commission was established at a time of increased violence; serious clashes between Arabs and Jews broke out in 1936 and were to last three years. On 11 November 1936,
2553-841: The Wheat Commission, and in 1934, he chaired the Royal Commission on the Common Law . In 1936–1937, he chaired the Peel Commission , which recommended for the first time the partition of the British Mandate of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. Peel married in 1899 the Honourable Eleanor Williamson (1871–1949), daughter of James Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton . They had two children: In 1929, Ashton died, and Peel succeeded him as chairman of James Williamson and Company. He
2622-740: The ambiguity of certain phrases in the Mandate, as to the ultimate intentions of the Mandatory Power. The Commission found that the drafters of the Mandate could not have foreseen the advent of massive Jewish immigration, that they considered due to "drastic restriction of immigration into the United States, the advent of the National Socialist Government in Germany in 1933 and the increasing economic pressure on
2691-413: The amount of land acquired by Jews than to the increase in the Arab population". "Endeavours to control the alienation of land by Arabs to Jews have not been successful. In the hills there is no more room for further close settlement by Jews; in the plains it should only be allowed under certain restrictions." The Commission stated that Government have attempted to discharge the contradictory obligations of
2760-551: The borders proposed [by the Peel Commission]. These could be considered temporary boundaries to be expanded in the future." Ben-Gurion saw the plan as only a stage in the realisation of a larger Jewish state. The two main Jewish leaders, Chaim Weizmann and Ben-Gurion, had convinced the Zionist Congress to approve equivocally the Peel recommendations as a basis for more negotiation. The Peel Plan proved to be
2829-596: The commission arrived in Palestine to investigate the reasons behind the uprising. The commission was charged with determining the cause of the riots, and judging the grievances of both sides. Chaim Weizmann made a speech on behalf of the Jews. On 25 November 1936, testifying before the Peel Commission, Weizmann said that there are in Europe 6,000,000 Jews ... "for whom the world is divided into places where they cannot live and places where they cannot enter." The Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini , testified in front of
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2898-457: The commission, opposing any partition of Arab lands with the Jews. He demanded full cessation of Jewish immigration. Although the Arabs continued to boycott the Commission officially, there was a sense of urgency to respond to Weizmann's appeal to restore calm. The former Mayor of Jerusalem Ragheb Bey al-Nashashibi —who was the Mufti's rival in the internal Palestinian arena, was thus sent to explain
2967-491: The commissioners are often retired or serving judges. They usually involve research into an issue, consultations with experts both within and outside government and public consultations as well. The warrant may grant immense investigatory powers, including summoning witnesses under oath , offering of indemnities, seizing of documents and other evidence (sometimes including those normally protected, such as classified information ), holding hearings in camera if necessary and—in
3036-439: The contrary, improvement in the economic situation in Palestine has meant the deterioration of the political situation". Addressing the "Arab charge that the Jews have obtained too large a proportion of good land cannot be maintained", the Commission noted that "Much of the land now carrying orange groves was sand dunes or swamp and uncultivated when it was purchased." They write that "The shortage of land is, we consider, due less to
3105-553: The council that became the Municipal Reform Party . He was leader of the party from 1908 to 1910 and chairman of the county council from 1914 to 1916. He began his parliamentary career when he was elected as Liberal Unionist MP for Manchester South at the 1900 Manchester South by-election . At the next general election in 1906 , he stood unsuccessfully at Harrow . He returned to the Commons in 1909, when he
3174-533: The form of a governor-general or governor) on the advice of the government and formally appointed by letters patent . In practice—unlike lesser forms of inquiry—once a commission has started the government cannot stop it. Consequently, governments are usually very careful about framing the terms of reference and generally include in them a date by which the commission must finish. Royal commissions are called to look into matters of great importance and usually controversy. These can be matters such as government structure,
3243-422: The ground that realities must be faced, but wanted modification of the proposed boundaries and Arab administrations in the neutral enclave. The Consul also noted that Nashashibi sidestepped the principle, but was willing to negotiate for favorable modifications. Amin al-Husseini was persuaded by the other Arab leaders to testify to the Commission. However, the wide opposition to the plan in the Arab community led to
3312-541: The growth of the Youth Movement. It has also been greatly encouraged by the recent Anglo-Egyptian and Franco-Syrian Treaties. The gulf between the races is thus already wide and will continue to widen if the present Mandate is maintained. The position of the Palestine Government between the two antagonistic communities is unenviable. There are two rival bodies – the Arab Higher Committee allied with
3381-421: The idea of a Jewish state and called for an independent state of Palestine, "with protection of all legitimate Jewish and other minority rights and safeguarding of reasonable British interests". They also demanded cessation of all Jewish immigration and land purchase. They argued that the creation of a Jewish state and lack of independent Palestine was a betrayal of the word given by Britain. The Zionist leadership
3450-480: The land in which the Jewish nation was born. Neither of the two national ideals permits of combination in the service of a single State. The Commission reached the conclusion that the Mandate had become unworkable and must be abolished in favour of partition, as the only solution to the Arab–Jewish "deadlock". It outlined ten points on: a Treaty system between the Arab and Jewish States and the new Mandatory Government;
3519-407: The land under its authority (and accordingly, the transfer of both Arab and Jewish populations) be apportioned between an Arab and Jewish state. The Jewish side was to receive a territorially smaller portion in the mid-west and north, from Mount Carmel to south of Be'er Tuvia , as well as the Jezreel Valley and the Galilee , while the Arab state linked with Trans-Jordan was to receive territory in
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#17327810432693588-493: The master partition plan, on which all those that followed were either based, or to which they were compared, ushering in a fundamental change in the British outlook on Palestine's future. Following the report's publication the British Government released a statement of policy, agreeing with its conclusions and proposing to seek from the League of Nations authority to proceed with a plan of partition. In March 1938,
3657-451: The modern democratic and primarily European character of the National Home and that of the Arab world around it is striking. The temper of the Home is strongly nationalist. There can be no question of fusion or assimilation between Jewish and Arab cultures. The National Home cannot be half-national." It also concluded that such a prospect was growing less realistic with time due to the nature of
3726-717: The poorest lands of Palestine, including the Negev Desert and the Arava Valley , as well as the hill country of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip . At the leadership level, there were tensions between the factions. Amin al-Husseini , who according to his biographer was an "authoritarian who could not tolerate opposition", feared the recommended merger with Transjordan under the rule of King Abdullah . The latter stood to gain much from partition; reaching an accord with
3795-650: The post during the premierships of Andrew Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin . The latter's government fell in January 1924, but after a brief spell in opposition, it was returned to power at the 1924 general election . Peel was appointed First Commissioner of Works in the Conservative administration formed by Baldwin. In 1928, Peel briefly returned to the India Office, but the Conservatives lost power by
3864-616: The rights of the Jewish minority. The Plan was also repudiated at the Bloudan Conference convened in Syria on 8 September, where parties from all over the Arab world rejected both the partition and establishment of a Jewish state in the Palestine Mandate. On 20 August 1937, the Twentieth Zionist Congress expressed that, at the time of the Balfour Declaration , it was understood that the Jewish National Home
3933-475: The same Zionist Congress, David Ben-Gurion , then chairman of the executive committee of the Jewish Agency for Palestine , told those in attendance that, though "there could be no question...of giving up any part of the Land of Israel ,... it was arguable that the ultimate goal would be achieved most quickly by accepting the Peel proposals." University of Arizona professor Charles D. Smith suggests that, "Weizmann and Ben-Gurion did not feel they had to be bound by
4002-422: The south and mid-east which included Judea , Samaria , and the sizable Negev desert . The report stated that Jews contribute more per capita to the revenues of Palestine than the Arabs, and the Government has thereby been enabled to maintain public services for the Arabs at a higher level than would otherwise have been possible. Partition would mean, on the one hand, that the Arab Area would no longer profit from
4071-414: The specific borders recommended by the Peel Commission, but empowered its executive to negotiate a more favorable plan for a Jewish State in Palestine. In the wake of the Peel Commission the Jewish Agency set up committees to begin planning for the state. At the time, it had already created a complete administrative apparatus amounting to "a Government existing side by side with the Mandatory Government." At
4140-422: The taxable capacity of the Jewish Area. On the other hand, (1) the Jews would acquire a new right of sovereignty in the Jewish Area; (2) that Area, as we have defined it, would be larger than the existing area of Jewish land and settlement; (3) the Jews would be freed from their present liability for helping to promote the welfare of Arabs outside that Area. It is suggested, therefore, that the Jewish State should pay
4209-451: The treatment of minorities, events of considerable public concern or economic questions. Many royal commissions last many years and, often, a different government is left to respond to the findings. Royal commissions have been held in Australia at a federal level since 1902. Royal commissions appointed by the Governor-General operate under the Royal Commissions Act 1902 passed by the Parliament of Australia in 1902. A defunct alternative
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#17327810432694278-411: Was a British politician who was a local councillor, a Member of Parliament and a member of the House of Lords . After an early career as a barrister and a journalist , he entered first local and then national politics. He rose to hold a number of ministerial positions but is probably best remembered for chairing the Peel Commission in 1936–1937, which recommended for the first time the partition of
4347-418: Was also a potent force and that the two communities were more loyal to their own national leaderships than the Palestine administration: "Arab nationalism is as intense a force as Jewish. The Arab leaders' demand for national self-government and the shutting down of the Jewish National Home has remained unchanged since 1929. Like Jewish nationalism, Arab nationalism is stimulated by the educational system and by
4416-417: Was appointed a member of the Royal Commission that was formed to inquire into the operation of the Port of London . In February the same year, he began his political career when he was elected in a by-election to fill a vacant seat for Woolwich in the London County Council to which he was re-elected in the ordinary election the following year. He was a member of the Moderate pro-Conservative grouping on
4485-430: Was bitterly divided over the plan. In a resolution adopted at the 1937 Zionist Congress, the delegates rejected the specific partition plan. Yet the principle of partition is generally thought to have been "accepted" or "not rejected outright" by any major faction: the delegates empowered the leadership to pursue future negotiations. The Jewish Agency Council later attached a request that a conference be convened to explore
4554-449: Was born in London in 1867. His father was the fifth and youngest son of Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel . Peel was educated at Harrow and Balliol College, Oxford , where he was secretary of the Oxford Union . In 1893, he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple and practised as a barrister before taking the position of special correspondent for the Daily Telegraph during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 . In 1900, Peel
4623-491: Was elected as Conservative MP for Taunton at a by-election . He inherited his father's viscountcy in 1912 and so moved to the House of Lords . Peel was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Bedfordshire and lieutenant-colonel of the Bedfordshire Yeomanry in 1912 and, at the outbreak of the First World War moved to France with his regiment, but ill health made him return to Britain in 1915. In 1918, he received his first government post as Joint Parliamentary Secretary at
4692-410: Was to be established in the whole of historic Palestine, including Trans-Jordan , and that inherent in the Declaration was the possibility of the evolution of Palestine into a Jewish State. While some factions at the Congress supported the Peel Report, arguing that later the borders could be adjusted, others opposed the proposal because the Jewish State would be too small. The Congress decided to reject
4761-474: Was widespread with Arabs complaining that the Plan had allotted to them "the barren mountains", while the Jews would receive most of the five cultivable plains, the maritime Plain , the Acre Plain , the Marj Ibn 'Amir , Al Huleh and the Jordan Valley For the Arabs, the plan envisaged giving Zionists the best land, with 82% of Palestine's principal export, citrus fruit, consigned to Jewish control. The idea of transfer of population met strong opposition. Under
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