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Last update - 15:01 12/08/2008
Israel grants war vet status to woman raped by British troops in Mandate Palestine
By The Associated Press
Tags: British Mandate, war veteran 

Israel's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it would recognize a Jewish underground activist raped by her British captors 60 years ago as a disabled war veteran.

Israel Radio said the unnamed woman was 14 when she was caught by British forces in Tel Aviv distributing flyers for the LEHI militia, which fought British rule in Palestine until the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948.

It said the British beat her legs and interrogated her about hideouts, radio transmitters and arms dumps used by LEHI, known to the British as the Stern Gang after its founder, Avraham Stern.
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The woman's daughter Navah told the radio that when her mother refused to give information, British officers raped her. She said her mother kept the experience a secret until blurting it out while watching a TV program on rape in 1993.

She suddenly said, 'I went through the same thing'. I was in total shock, the daughter said, adding that her mother had always been remote, afraid to leave the house and had suffered leg pains. Today, the mother is confined to a wheelchair.

After the mother's revelation the family started lobbying for her to be classified as a wounded veteran, which carries recognition of sacrifice to the state as well as welfare benefits. Fifteen years later the government finally recognized her claim.

"Some people carry these things in silence for many years, then it takes a long time to check them out," Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said. He added that a medical committee would convene on Wednesday to rule on the precise level of her disability.

The British Embassy in Tel Aviv had no immediate comment.


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      1.   Somethings a bit strange here 15:14  |  sj 12/08/08
      2.   Lehi = militia, Hamas/Hesbollah= terrorists? 15:30  |  Ramin 12/08/08
      3.   #1, sv 15:51  |  Mike 12/08/08
      4.   Can`t be... 15:52  |  Dave 12/08/08
      5.   british officers? 17:02  |  johnymac 12/08/08
      6.   #2 17:18  |  Jane 12/08/08
      7.   LEHI/STERN was a terrorist organization 17:52  |  Educated Civilian 12/08/08
      8.   Jane #6 `#2` 18:01  |  Colin Wright 12/08/08
      9.   Sure, Ramin 18:09  |  IW 12/08/08
      10.   To Educated--Which of these were civilians?? 18:21  |  IW 12/08/08
      11.   It took a long time to unearth a repressed trauma 18:38  |  jewish Grandma 12/08/08
      12.   lehi = terrorists, but rape as punishment = never acceptable 20:15  |  yonatan 12/08/08
      13.   War crimes trials for British rapists? 21:00  |  Briton 12/08/08
      14.   British deserved what they got 22:00  |  Scharker Yid 12/08/08
      15.   The British are as low or.. 23:16  |  macmillan 12/08/08
      16.   What I don`t understand... 23:24  |  yezmar 12/08/08
      17.   RAMIN.Because your prime targets are almost always civillians - 23:42  |  PETER SM 12/08/08
      18.   #2 Ramin.....yes, Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorists 00:18  |  Lynn 13/08/08
      19.   Yes, Lehi and the Irgun were terrorists. 02:29  |  Alex 13/08/08
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