Elizabeth Tsurkov (born 1986)[1] is a Russian-Israeli researcher who was kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023 and held by the group Kata'ib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia backed by Iran.[2][3] The militia had denied involvement in the matter for months.[4] On November 13, 2023, they released a hostage video of her in custody.[5]

Biography

Tsurkov was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to Jewish parents who moved to Israel when Tsurkov was four.[1]

During her mandatory service in the IDF, Tsurkov became interested in the Arab world.[6] In 2011, she began learning Levantine Arabic, after finishing her bachelor's degree in international studies.[7]

In 2014, Tsurkov was working at the NGO Hotline for Refugees and Migrants.[8]

Tsurkov was working for Nathan Sharansky.[9]

Tsurkov is a doctoral student at Princeton University who went to Iraq to do academic research.[2] She is a nonresident fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, a foreign policy think tank operating out of Washington, D.C.[3] Tsurkov volunteered in several human rights organizations in the Middle East, promoting the rights of Palestinians, refugees, migrants, torture survivors, human trafficking victims, and various minorities. Tsurkov fiercely opposed the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and its military operations against Gaza.[10][11]

Tsurkov has written about the Middle East, and particularly the Syrian civil war, for publications such as +972 Magazine,[12] The Forward,[13] Haaretz,[14] The New York Times,[15] and The Washington Post.[16]

Kidnapping

Tsurkov entered Iraq with her Russian passport, in January 2023.[17][6] She was visiting Iraq to conduct field research in Iraq for her doctoral dissertation at Princeton University, as confirmed by the university's deputy spokesperson on October 3, 2023.[18] Multiple Princeton scholars and employees, including Professors Amaney Jamal, Tali Mendelberg and Mark Beissinger, were aware of her research in Baghdad.[19]

Tsurkov contacted a Shiite cleric named Ahmed Alwani with the intention of meeting his cousin Muhammad Alwani, a senior official in the Kata'ib Hezbollah in Iraq. When the two men discovered Tsurkov's Israeli citizenship, they decided to kidnap her.[20] Tsurkov was abducted on March 26, 2023, while sitting in a cafe in Baghdad's Karrada district.[21]

Response

Shortly after her disappearance, an Iraqi news website said that Iraqi authorities were questioning an Iranian citizen connection to the kidnapping.[5]

In early July 2023, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Tsurkov had been abducted, and accused Kata'ib Hezbollah of abducting her, which they denied.[17][6] The Iraqi government made a statement that they were investigating Tsurkov's disappearance, but so far had no answers.[5][6]

On September 8, 2023, human rights organizations Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Scholars at Risk and Democracy for the Arab World Now pledged the Iraqi government "to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Elizabeth Tsurkov".[7] On September 11, American senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker wrote a letter asking American President Joe Biden to put pressure on the Iraqi government for Tsurkov's release.[22] On September 13, a Princeton spokesperson said the university "...continues to communicate with relevant government officials and experts to understand how we can best support Elizabeth’s safe return to her family and her studies at Princeton".[23]

On November 13, 2023, a 4-minute video of Tsurkov was released on Telegram and subsequently aired by Al Rabiaa TV.[17] In the video, which could not be authenticated, Tsurkov says she had been detained for seven months, although she does not identify her captors or location, and she also mentions the 2023 Israel-Hamas war.[5][6][17] Tsurkov also says in the video that she had been working for the CIA and Mossad, which Tsurkov's family denied.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Azizi, Arash. "Free Elizabeth Tsurkov!". Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  2. 1 2 Ronen Bergman; Patrick Kingsley; Alissa J. Rubin; Adam Goldman (5 July 2023). "Israeli Woman Held for Months in Iraq by Shiite Militia Linked to Iran". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Wikidata Q120379305. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  3. 1 2 David S. Cloud (5 July 2023). "Israeli Researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov Held Hostage by Iran-Linked Militia in Iraq, Israel Says". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Wikidata Q120379295. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  4. ↑ "دولت عراق تحقیق درباره ناپدید شدن شهروند اسرائیلی را آغاز کرد". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Video purports to show Israeli-Russian researcher kidnapped in Iraq". AP News. 2023-11-13. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rubin, Alissa J. (November 14, 2023). "New Video Suggests Israeli-Russian Academic Kidnapped in Iraq Is Alive". The New York Times.
  7. 1 2 "Joint Statement: Iraq: Release Kidnapped Scholar". Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Scholars at Risk, Democracy for the Arab World Now. September 8, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023."Joint Statement: Iraq: Release Kidnapped Scholar"."Joint Statement: Iraq: Release Kidnapped Scholar".
  8. ↑ "Hamas gets Hebrew grammar 101". The Times of Israel. July 16, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Kidnapped Israeli used to work for Natan Sharansky". Ynet News. May 16, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  10. ↑ Radcliff, Pete. "Elizabeth Tsurkov speaks on the situation in Israel after the 2014 war on Gaza". Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  11. ↑ Jung & Naiv. "Human rights - Jung & Naiv in Israel: Episode 188" – via YouTube.
  12. ↑ Tsurkov, Elizabeth (2013-12-10). "Knesset passes revised law for detention of African asylum seekers". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  13. ↑ "Elizabeth Tsurkov Archives". The Forward. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  14. ↑ "Elizabeth Tsurkov". Haaretz. 2018-12-21. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  15. ↑ Tsurkov, Elizabeth (July 22, 2014). "Israel Is Helping Hamas". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  16. ↑ Tsurkov, Elizabeth (June 1, 2021). "Syria's 2021 election came in the midst of deep economic crisis". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  17. 1 2 3 4 AFP (2023-11-13). "Iraqi TV shows video of kidnapped Israeli-Russian Elizabeth Tsurkov". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  18. ↑ Bonette, Julie. "Princeton Acknowledges Kidnapped Grad Student Was in Iraq for Research". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  19. ↑ "Sister of Kidnapped Ph.D. Student Elizabeth Tsurkov Seeks Public Support from Princeton". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 2023-09-08. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  20. ↑ "Israeli-Russian Researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov's Circumstances of Alleged Kidnapping in Iraq Revealed". Shafaq News. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  21. ↑ Salami, Daniel (2023-07-07). "Iraqi TV footage shows Israeli researcher leaving cafe just before abduction". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  22. ↑ "US senators urge Biden to help push for Israeli researcher's release". Middle East Eye. September 21, 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  23. ↑ Tucker, Eric (September 13, 2023). "US should use its influence to help win the freedom of a scholar missing in Iraq, her sister says". AP. AP News.
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