Comment on this storyComment
Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian dual citizen and a graduate student at Princeton University, is being held captive by a Shia militia, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday. Tsurkov was doing a PhD in Baghdad when she went missing in March.
“Elizabeth Tsurkov is alive,” the prime minister’s office said, “and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being.”
Although close associates – including Tsurkov’s family and some of her associates – learned of the researcher’s kidnapping in late March, Israel’s statement is among the first public acknowledgments of her capture. The DC-based New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, of which Tsurkov is a member, said in a statement that Tsurkov’s family asked not to make the news public, hoping to quickly and quietly negotiate a release can. According to Israeli officials quoted in local media reports, Israel’s statement came after foreign media began reporting Tsurkov’s kidnapping.
According to Israeli media reports, Russian and Israeli officials are working together to secure the researcher’s release.
In its statement, Israel identified Tsurkov’s kidnappers as the Shia militia Kataib Hezbollah. The militia has close ties to Iran.
“There are parts of the Middle East where [Tsurkov’s] Their very identity poses great risks for them,” the institute’s New Lines Magazine wrote in a statement on Wednesday. “But Liz has committed to a particular style of granular, hyperlocal research that requires fieldwork, and she doesn’t seem afraid of anything. She stayed in Iraq.”
Gisha, an Israeli NGO where Tsurkov previously worked, characterized the scientist on twitter as a champion of “the human rights and well-being of the Palestinians in Gaza”.
According to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, Tsurkov entered Iraq on her Russian passport to do research for her doctoral studies at Princeton. (She could not have entered the country with her Israeli passport). When asked about Princeton’s role in and knowledge of Tsurkov’s trip, a university spokesman said they were not allowed to share information about student records, citing school policy.
“Elizabeth is a valued member of the Princeton University community,” said Michael Hotchkiss, associate vice president of communications at Princeton. “We are deeply concerned for her safety and well-being and look forward to her being able to rejoin her family and continue her studies.”
This is an evolving story and will be updated.
Give this item as a gift