Elizabeth Tsurkov (from her website)
ElizabethTsurkov, an Israeli researcher, was taken captive by a terrorist Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq several months ago. The Israeli government knew about the abduction when it happened, but only confirmed it on Wednesday.
Israel says that the group holding Elizabeth Tsurkov is connected to the Iranian backed Hezbollah terrorist organization based in Lebanon.
She holds dual Israeli and Russian citizenship and entered Iraq on her Russian passport since Israel does not have diplomatic ties with the country. It is also against Israeli law for its citizens to travel to Iraq.
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Elizabeth Tsurkov is an Israeli-Russian dual citizen who has been missing in Iraq for several months and is being held by the.
In a statement, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said she is still alive and that Israel holds the government of Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being.
“The matter is being handled by the relevant parties in the State of Israel out of concern for Elizabeth Tsurkov’s security and well-being,” said the statement.
Her family released a statement saying, “She was kidnapped in the middle of Baghdad, and we see the Iraqi government as directly responsible for her safety. We ask for her immediate release from this unlawful detention.”
Princeton also released a statement about Elizabeth Tsurkov saying, “Elizabeth is a valued member of the Princeton University community. We are deeply concerned for her safety and well-being, and we are eager for her to be able to rejoin her family and resume her studies.”
Elizabeth Tsurkov is an IDF veteran. She is a Princeton University doctoral candidate and non-resident fellow at the Washington, D.C. think tank New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, a Washington D.C.-based think-tank, and a Research Fellow at the Forum for Regional Thinking, an Israeli-Palestinian think-tank based in Jerusalem.
Her research focuses on the Levant, and particularly, the Syrian uprising and civil war. It is based on a large network of contacts – ordinary civilians, activists, combatants and communal, political and military leaders – which I have established since 2009 across the Middle East and particularly in Syria, Iraq and Israel-Palestine. I have also conducted fieldwork in Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and other countries in the region.
Elizabeth Tsurkov says her research is informed by a “desire to understand and convey the points of view and experiences of people in the Middle East, and highlight abuses by powerful actors, whether they are dictatorial regimes, armed groups or foreign countries intervening in the region.” She has over a decade of experience in volunteering and working for human rights organizations in the Middle East fighting for the rights of Palestinians, refugees and migrants, torture survivors, human trafficking victims and ethnic and religious minorities.
