Woman kidnapped in Iraq was doing research authorized by Princeton
Elizabeth Tsurkov. Courtesy of Elizabeth Tsurkov’s website
By Beth Harpaz October 3, 2023
Princeton University has publicly confirmed that Elizabeth Tsurkov was doing authorized research for her Ph.D. thesis when she was kidnapped in Iraq. Her sister Emma Tsurkov had sought the acknowledgement in the hopes that it would aid efforts to free her.
“Elizabeth was kidnapped while enrolled at the University and was in Iraq conducting research related to her approved Ph.D. dissertation topic,” Michael Hotchkiss, Princeton’s assistant vice president for communications, said in an emailed statement Tuesday.
“At this time, the University is focused on Elizabeth’s safety and well-being. We have offered support to Elizabeth’s family and are in communication with government officials and experts for guidance on how the University can best help to bring Elizabeth home safely.”
Emma’s campaign to keep the spotlight on Elizabeth’s plight has also included lobbying members of Congress, the U.S. State Department and other government officials, and seeking testimonials from publications — including the Forward — that Elizabeth wrote for.
Abducted
Elizabeth was finishing up field research in Baghdad for her dissertation on sectarianism in the Middle East when militants kidnapped her from a cafe on March 21. Her abductors were members of Kata’ib Hezbollah, known as K.H., a radical Shiite militia with ties to Iran. Emma has collected evidence that K.H. is tied to the Iraqi government and military — which, in turn, are supported by U.S. aid, to the tune of $630 million last year.
The situation was kept secret until July, when it was covered by major news outlets. But since then, Emma says there has been no proof of life, no ransom demand, no negotiations or communication.
“She will die there unless we get her out of there,” Emma told Forward editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren. “I know she is trusting me to get her out of there.”
She added: “How I get my sister back is anyone who cares about my sister pressures Congress and the State Department to apply pressure on the Iraqi government, which then realizes that the political calculus is one that makes keeping my sister kidnapped in Iraq untenable for them.”
Family history
Efforts to obtain government intercession are complicated by Elizabeth’s dual citizenship in Israel — which has no diplomatic relations with Iraq — and Russia, which is preoccupied with war in Ukraine. Elizabeth has been a U.S. resident since starting a master’s program at University of Chicago in 2017.
Her parents, Arkada and Ira Tsurkov, were Soviet dissidents who spent a year in prison with Natan Sharansky. The family escaped St. Petersburg when Elizabeth was 4 and Emma 3.
Princeton also on Tuesday reiterated an earlier statement expressing deep concern about Elizabeth’s “safety and well-being,” adding that the university is “eager for her to be released so she can rejoin her family and resume her studies.”
Rabbi Gil Steinlauf, the executive director of Princeton’s Hillel, met with Emma Tsurkov in recent weeks and referred to the obligation in Judaism to “do what we can to rescue our fellow Jews who have been maliciously and unjustly taken into captivity.”
He called on “all those in power to do what they can to secure her safe release speedily and in good time.”
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