The Times of Israel reports that Gill Rosenberg, a 31-year-old Canadian-born Israeli citizen, has joined Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in the battle against the Islamic State. Bizarre, right? But it gets weirder: turns out Rosenberg was arrested in Canada in 2009 for “posing as a lottery official” and scamming elderly victims into paying for “fictive services,” to the tune of $25 million. (She was a member of a ring of twelve Israeli criminals.)
She was sentenced to jail in the U.S. for four years, released early, deported to Israel, and then on Sunday—according to her Facebook page, at least—rocked up in Nusaybin, Turkey, to begin training with Kurdish fighters. As you do! Turns out it’s as easy as traveling from Tel Aviv to Amman, then hopping on a plane to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. “In the IDF, we say ‘Aharai’ – After Me,” Rosenberg peacocked on her Facebook page. “Let’s show ISIS what that means.” Her lawyer says it is “exactly the sort of thing” she’d expect of her client.
The full story is here. Leonardo DiCaprio has already optioned the film rights.*
* Joking, obvi.
** But here’s hoping.
(Image: Kurdish Peshmerga fighters rest during fighting against Islamic State (IS) group on November 8, 2014 in the Syrian besieged border town of Ain al-Arab. Credit: Ahmed Deeb/Getty.)