JERUSALEM — Gillian Rosenberg says she's "safe and secure."
The 31-year-old Israeli Canadian had been reported kidnapped by the Islamic State over the weekend, but she posted to her Facebook account today that she's fine.
"Guys, I'm totally safe and secure. I don't have Internet access or any communication devices with me for my safety and security," the B.C. native wrote Dec. 1. "I can't reply regularly and only happened to have a chance to log in and see these bullshit news stories. Ignore the reports I've been captured. Yalla, acharai [follow me]!"
Rosenberg, who in recent weeks had joined Kurdish forces in their fight against ISIS, was reported kidnapped Nov. 30 on blogs and Islamist websites. Several other female fighters were also reportedly captured.
She was said to be captured by jihadists near the Syrian city of Kobani, but Israel’s Foreign Ministry had said “there are question marks” surrounding the reported abduction.
Rosenberg, who hails from White Rock, B.C., attended Maimonides Jewish High School in Vancouver (now called King David High School), where she was valedictorian in 2001, her graduating year.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said that it was “following the various reports regarding the issue and is trying to gather further information.” But a Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Yediot Achronot, “there are question marks surrounding her said kidnapping.”
Rosenberg’s family reportedly has not contacted the Israeli Foreign Ministry or come forward asking publicly for help.
A Kurdish source told Yediot Achronot on Dec. 1 that there are no foreign nationals fighting with Kurds in the area where it was claimed Rosenberg was kidnapped.
The Hebrew-language NRG news website reported Dec. 1 that Kurdish sources said that international volunteers are not placed in combat roles, but instead support fighters on the front line. The sources also said that no international volunteers have been in Kobani.
ISIS also did not officially acknowledged such a capture.
Rosenberg, known in Israel as Gila, immigrated to Israel from Canada in 2006 and served as an instructor in an Israeli army search-and-rescue unit.
In 2009, she was extradited from Israel to the United States for her involvement in what the FBI called a lottery prize scheme that mostly targeted the elderly. She spent four years in an American prison.
Israeli citizens are barred from visiting enemy states including Syria and Iraq, and the government has been cracking down on Arab-Israelis returning from fighting in those countries.
Old high school friends in Vancouver who declined to speak on the record to The CJN last month expressed shock and concern for her safety when they learned Rosenberg had joined the Kurdish fighters.
Shoshana Burton, one of her high school teachers, remembered her as a shy young woman.
“[She] became very passionate when she recognized opportunities to be involved with the school’s annual mitzvah day, where we volunteered in the community. She was compassionate and was fascinated with Israel,” Burton told The CJN last month.”
