| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This essay examines the disappearance in 1947 of a young Jewish insurgent fighting the British in Palestine, Alexander Rubowitz. Kidnapped by a secret British army unit led by Major Roy Farran, Rubowitz's body has never been found. Farran was suspected of responsibility and detained but he escaped from custody twice before he was put on trial for the abduction and alleged murder of the youth. The 'Farran Affair' became a cause célèbre and it was taken up by contending sides in the propaganda battle over the future of Palestine. A year after Farran's acquittal a letter bomb was sent to his family in the UK by members of the Jewish underground seeking revenge. This essay looks at the emergence of new thinking by the British on how best to defeat insurgent forces and why officially sanctioned counter-terror such as Farran's 'special squads' did not work in Palestine.
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