[Update, Dec. 1, 1:25 p.m.: Gill Rosenberg, or someone with access to her Facebook account, has “>revealed to the Israeli media earlier this month that she had traveled to Iraq to help the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fight off ISIS.
“They are our brothers,” she told Israel Radio of the Kurds. “They are good people. They love life, a lot like us, really.”
Now, just three weeks later, there are rumors she may be in ISIS custody. Posts on ISIS-affiliated web forums, including “>Kobane, a small majority-Kurdish town along Syria's northern border with Turkey.
“>and other outlets that Rosenberg was captured.
So far, neither group has provided evidence either way, and ISIS has yet to release an official statement.
“>post to Facebook on Nov. 20 that she would be taking a short leave from social media.
“My Facebook account and friend requests are being managed by someone else until I have access again in apx 2 weeks time on or around week of 12/8,” she wrote. “Please do not message as this is not me. Thank you.”
A couple weeks before that, right around her 31st birthday, Rosenberg posted photos of herself on the Iraqi-Syrian border, and wrote: “In the IDF, we say אחריי – After Me. Let's show ISIS what that means.”
A friend of hers from the IDF told the Journal that he remembered Rosenberg as “a cute lady with a strong ideology.” “>Haaretz:
Israel has maintained discreet military, intelligence and business ties with the Kurds since the 1960s, seeing in the minority ethnic group a buffer against shared Arab adversaries. The Kurds are spread through Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran.
“>reportedly served a few years in U.S. prison for a phone scam that she ran out of Israel, in which elderly Americans were “bilked out of millions of dollars, collectively,” “>filled her Facebook wall with respects, prayers and side-by-side photos of the Israeli and Kurdish flags.
“>CBC News in Canada reports that the Canadian foreign ministry is likewise “pursuing all appropriate channels” to locate Rosenberg.)
Asked if Israel was expecting ISIS to try and negotiate, Nachshon said: “I hear they are more in the business of cutting heads.”
Updates to come as story develops.
