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Metro Vancouver woman captured by ISIS extremists... or maybe not
Some experts have cast doubt on the Islamist claims, noting several incongruities in the reports
VANCOUVER -- There is increasing doubt tonight about Islamist claims that a White Rock-raised woman was captured by ISIS extremists after joining Kurdish fighters in Syria.
Gill Rosenberg, an Israeli-Canadian woman, has attracted a following since she claimed on social media to have joined the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, an attack force known for being one of the few that encourage women to fight. Rosenberg, 31, is believed to be one of a few western females to have joined the fight.
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Several people commenting on Rosenberg’s Facebook page Sunday night said she is safe, including someone called Kader Kadandir, who is affiliated with the People’s Protection Units and who said news of Rosenberg’s capture “is a huge lie. She is in Rojava and safe.”
Kadandir posted photos of a woman resembling Gill Rosenberg, but there was no indication when the photos were taken.
On Saturday, a pro-Islamic-State contributor posted to an online forum that fighters in Kobani had captured a “female Zionist soldier,” according to the SITE Intelligence Group, and Jihadi sympathizers suggested the captive might be Rosenberg.
By Sunday, posters on other Islamist forums were reporting her capture as fact.
Several Israeli media picked up on the account, but so far no confirmation has been provided.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was following up on the reports about Rosenberg. A spokesperson said that Canada “is pursuing all appropriate channels to seek further information and officials are in close contact with local authorities.”
A childhood friend of Rosenberg’s says she was a funny kid with a serious side, declaring at the age of 12 that she wanted to fight for Israel. Israeli media say she moved there in 2006 and joined the Israeli military.
Alex Konyves said he grew up with Rosenberg in White Rock and attended Hebrew school with her beginning at age five.
He was alarmed to hear that she may have been captured in Syria.
“I have trouble wrapping my head around that. We live in beautiful British Columbia, where everything is safe and lovely. I pray that she’s OK and that these rumours are completely false, and that she’ll be back in a safe place as soon as possible,” he said.
“We hung out every Sunday,” he said. “It’s always nice to have someone to have crack jokes with in that setting, and she was definitely one of those people.”
Though he lost touch with her in high school, Konyves’s strongest memories of Rosenberg are of that dry, cutting sense of humour.
But she also had a serious side, announcing in her bat mitzvah speech at age 12 that she planned to join the military to defend Israel.
“From a young age, she was interested in joining the air force,” Konyves said.
According to her Facebook profile, Rosenberg studied aviation at BCIT after attending King David High School in Vancouver, and then went on to join the Israeli Defense Forces. She lists Tel Aviv, Israel as her home.
In 2009, she was extradited to the United States after she was arrested in connection with a lottery scam that targeted the elderly, according to a report from Reuters news service. She served about three years in prison as part of a plea bargain.
More recently, Reuters reported, she gave an interview to Israel radio claiming to have travelled to Iraq with Kurdish fighters. She said she had plans to fight in Syria, calling the Kurds “our brothers.”
Some experts on the region have cast doubt on the Islamist claims that Rosenberg has been captured, noting several incongruities in the reports.
“So far, the story seems to be not true,” said Wladimir van Wilgenburg, an analyst for the Jamestown Foundation.
“The fact is that Rosenberg is not in Kobani, (as) she did not go to Turkey (from which you can enter Kobani).”
Van Wilgenburg said that if she was captured, it would have been near the fighting in the border region of Serikaniye, or Ras al-Ain. |
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發表於 2014-12-1 07:08
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BC-raised woman, Gill Rosenberg, was reportedly captured by Islamists while fighting with Kurdish forces. But experts cast doubt on the report, calling it ISIS propaganda