Who is Elizabeth Tzurkov and Why Was She Abducted by an Iranian-backed Militia in Baghdad?

Four months ago, a Russian-Israeli Princeton University doctoral student and human rights activist disappeared in Baghdad. Why was her abduction kept secret until last Wednesday?

Elizabeth Tzurkov is a 36-year-old Russian-Israeli PhD student at Princeton University. She is now believed to be held captive by Iraqi-based, Iranian-backed Shia extremists.

I first became aware of Tzurkov when I joined Twitter in 2014. She was a feisty voice advocating for the dispossessed and human rights, focusing on issues in Israel, Syria, Turkey and Iraq. Over time she expressed her virulently anti-Israel views more overtly. Nevertheless, I often found her posts about Syria, in particular, to be sharp and unlike any reporting anywhere else.  

Tzurkov produced some superb threads with detailed descriptions of life and conditions in areas where no western reporter or aid worker would go. At least, not anyone with a smidge of good sense. She seemed to rely on an impressive roster of contacts she had developed throughout the middle east, with a focus on impenetrable areas, like Syria and Iraq, particularly when ISIS controlled extensive territory in those countries.

And with no reason to think otherwise, I assumed that her work was done remotely.

We now know that not to have been the case.

On Wednesday, July 5, the fact that Elizabeth Tzurkov had been abducted in Baghdad in late March became public. Apparently, a media outlet was on the brink of publishing an article exposing this fact and the Israeli government decided to scoop whoever it was.

What I have learned in recent days is that Tzurkov most definitely had a penchant for pushing things to the edge, and then some. She had travelled repeatedly in the past to Syria, Iraq and, possibly, other countries hostile to Israel. Before she left for Baghdad on her most recent adventure last December, Tzurkov was warned explicitly and directly by Israeli officials that she faced significant danger if she continued with her plans. According to Israel’s (television) channel 12, the Iraqi government had conveyed this warning to American officials, who then passed it on to Israeli counterparts, who, in turn, shared it with Tzurkov.

In spite of this Tzurkov went ahead with her plans. She arrived in Baghdad at some point in December and shared an apartment with an Iraqi woman in a middle-class neighborhood in Baghdad. There are reports that in the days leading up to her abduction, she was tiring of her field work in the area and looking forward to heading back to Princeton.

But she never got there.

One scenario being floated (facts are scarce and sometimes inconsistent) is that she was at a café in Baghdad in late March and was abducted by several men. Another version has her in her apartment when the moment came. Her roommate, an Iraqi woman was, according to some accounts, also abducted and held with Tzurkov for two weeks before being released.

Almost four months later, Tzurkov’s whereabouts are unknown. A widely reported belief is that her initial abductors then transferred her to the custody of an Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia group operating in Iraq. As with much about this case, the details are murky.

The working (public) assumption is that Tzurkov was targeted by a Shi’ite militia with strong ties to Iran. This raises concerns that she may be transferred to that country, which would not bode well for her. But, whatever officials know, they are not sharing, understandably.

Interviewed last Thursday by Israel’s channel 12, Tzurkov’s sister and mother expressed their distress and worry and said that they have had no contact with her since March.

I worry, as do so many, for her well-being. I also cannot help but wonder – why? What caused her to disregard explicit and repeated warnings? Of all people, Elizabeth Tzurkov – an academic who devoted her work to studying the ideologies and conduct of extremist Islamic militias - understands well the deep hatred these groups reserve for Israel and Jews.

They would not give a toss about her compassion or scholarship.

In March, 2019, a very long feature article by Tzurkov was published in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronot (on the Ynet news network), reporting extensively on her then most recent trip to Iraq. (Yediot re-upped the piece recently.)

Tzurkov’s reporting on the horrors and hardships suffered and ongoing in Mosul are detailed, explicit and would have infuriated various militia forces still active in Iraq.  One can only hope that the locals who shared their stories with her have been spared retaliation.

The article is written in Hebrew with a companion readout. For those who do not read or understand Hebrew, what stands out in her report is the fact that many of her interviewees complain bitterly of ongoing repression in Mosul. Women are still afraid to remove their veils. Destruction is everywhere. Hunger and poverty are rampant. And Tzurkov reports what she is told and observes, unvarnished.

When she wrote the article in 2019, she had been based in Erbil for a period of time.  In her piece, she tells the reader of concern she had when she travelled to Mosul. As she got closer to the city, she wrote, there were more and more frequent roadblocks manned by various militias. Perhaps, she reflects, this little road trip was not such a great idea. Wouldn’t it be unfortunate, she quips, if I became entangled in local problems just because I didn’t want to refuse a dinner invitation?

Her use of a Hebrew word that more or less translates to “entangled”, or “mixed up in”, is euphemistic at best; downright delusional or cocky, at worst. She tempted fate and she knew it. She figured the odds were in her favor, I guess.

Along the way, she would certainly have piqued the interest of militiamen manning roadblocks and scanning documents. A western female, travelling to Mosul to – as she explained it – attend a dinner party at the home of a friend.

Right.

Mosul is the second largest city in Iraq. Before ISIS took control of Mosul in June, 2014, close to 4-million people lived there. By the time the city was liberated three years later approximately 3-million remained. To this day (as Tzurkov reported in 2019 in Yediot) Mosul remains desperately poor and riven with conflict. ISIS cells continue to operate there, as do competing Shi’ite and other militias. And, of course, there is the Iraqi Army trying to impose some form of order.

A Sunni majority city which was celebrated in the pre-ISIS period for its peacefully integrated and diverse population, Mosul is now cleaved deeply along tribal and religious lines. Any men or teenage boys who were allowed to remain in Mosul throughout the ISIS occupation and not compelled to serve the conquerors in battle are highly suspect today. Trust is a thing of the past.

Tzurkov is by no means the only westerner to have reported on Mosul since the defeat of ISIS there. But, she had clearly attracted the wrong attention and made herself a target by continuing to visit the area. Her dispatches would surely have been received as direct provocations by many of the militias and other interests operating in Iraq. As would her Israeli nationality.

Tzurkov entered Iraq on her Russian passport. She was well aware of the fact that it is illegal for any Israeli citizen to travel to an enemy country, of which Iraq is one. The reasons for that are obvious. But, she chose to go ahead and violate that law; a significant risk she very knowingly assumed.

Reaction to her abduction has been muted. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would work for her release. He attributed responsibility for her abduction to Kataeb Hezballah, a kind of aggregator of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. There is speculation that some members of this group work with Iraqi intelligence. And there are reports that Tzurkov was last seen with men in Iraqi army uniform.

Kataeb Hezballah, of course, has denied any involvement with the case.

But, I expect that Netanyahu and Israeli intelligence officials aren’t just spit-balling when they throw out a comment specifying Kataeb Hezballah as being responsible.

Natan Sharansky, the celebrated former prisoner of Zion in the Soviet Union, spoke briefly with reporters last week, saying that he hoped that Tzurkov was safe and would be freed quickly. She had worked as an aide of some sort for Sharansky for a period of time many years ago.

Interestingly, there has been significant interest in Tzurkov’s abduction but very few have commented, aside from her mother, sister and Sharansky. Perhaps that is because discretion is the best approach when dealing with religious extremists. Tzurkov’s political views are another factor in this case which may impact public sympathy. In her writing over the last decade or so she has become increasingly critical of Israel and tended to ally herself with groups and individuals who openly revile the Jewish state. That’s putting it politely.

Tzurkov very deliberately chose to ignore warnings from Israel regarding concrete, viable threats should she return to Iraq. A self-proclaimed human rights warrior, perhaps she believed her own, you know….

But, even so, it is difficult to understand why a woman would travel alone to a country where many groups and interests regarded her as the enemy. She is Jewish and has dual Israeli and Russian citizenship. That’s more than enough reason to become a target in Iraq, and she apparently made no effort to hide her background.

And, surely, she knew that such people do not mess around.

General speculation is that Tzurkov’s abduction was ordered by Tehran so that they would have an asset to leverage in any negotiations for the release of Iranians being held by Israel.

When she is released, I expect that Tzurkov will be in the company of the Israeli officials she so loathes, for a long, long time. She will be debriefed painstakingly, down to the most granular bits of information.

This case is so exceptional - and now very public - that it will be important for the Israeli government to demonstrate that when it cautions its citizens - as it did Tzurkov - that such interventions are not to be taken lightly.

On Friday, the Iraqi government issued a statement advising that it is investigating this case and will say nothing further until their work is completed. In other words: “We’ll leave it to Israel and America to sort out. This is not our mess and we want no part of it.”

Iraq will not do anything to provoke Iran. Or powerful local militias. Or Israel. Or Russia. Or America.

It could be a very long time before Elizabeth Tzurkov is free.