Since the Islamic State (IS) seized Mosul in June 2014 it
has been destroying historic sites throughout the area. In the summer of 2014
for example it bombed
the Ibn al-Atheer shrine and the Mosque of the Prophet Yunus. More recently it
bulldozed the Assyrian cities of Nimrod and Hatra, and ransacked Khorsabad in
March 2015. This has generated plenty of headlines and international
condemnation, which has only obfuscated IS’s real purpose, which is to spread
its propaganda while profiting in the process.
The popular narrative
about the Islamic State’s destruction of his historic sites is that it wants to
wipe out history and religions, which are not its own. The group opposes
idolatry and apostasy, and argues that all of these places and items that it is
destroying belong to Jahiliya the time of ignorance before Islam. While IS is
promoting these views it has no problem looting these areas to make money off
of them.
As recent reports have found dealing in antiquities has
become a new source of funding for the Islamic State. For example, the
Financial Action Task Force just released a study
in February 2015 noting that smuggling historic items has become one avenue for
the group to raise money. Iraq’s Tourism Ministry stated that IS loots ancient
places before it destroys them, while the director of UNESCO’s Iraq office said
that this has become more systematic recently. In Ninewa for instance, IS has a
special group to find artifacts it can sell. It then uses
Arab, Turkish, and Kurdish middlemen, along with connections to Turkish,
Lebanese, and Jordanian criminal rings to smuggle the items out of Iraq and
onto the black market. British
newspapers recently found IS selling artifacts on eBay as well. One expert
believed that this has become such a large business for the Islamic State that
it is causing a drop in prices.
Destroying part of the Mosul Museum grabbed headlines around
the world, but the Islamic State’s real goal was looting the museum to the tune
of $24 mil (ABC)
An example of how this all works occurred in February when
IS attacked the Mosul Museum. While the smashing of displays at the museum
caused global outrage, the group ransacked the institution beforehand. It was
said that it earned $24 million that month as a result. That showed the
potential profits the organization could make from just one site.
The Islamic State is killing two birds with one stone with
this current campaign. First, it is maintaining the world’s attention each time
it attacks a historic site. This helps with its propaganda that it is the
pre-eminent Salafi group. More importantly, it generates millions of dollars for
the group as every one of these places is looted, and then the items are put up
on the black market. International organizations are just now trying to crack
down on this illicit trade, but that is very difficult, because the sources of this
contraband are under IS control. After that it is very hard to track the
antiquities as they pass through criminal rings. This will take a real
coordinated effort across many groups and countries to not only deny IS this
source of money, but also return Iraq’s stolen history.
SOURCES
Crone, Jack, “2,000-year-old artefacts looted by ISIS from
ancient sites in Iraq and Syria are being sold on EBAY,” Daily Mail, 3/14/15
Financial Action Task Force, “Financing of the Terrorist
Organisation Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL),” February 2015
Sarah, Aziz Abu, “Why is ISIS destroying Iraq’s historical
heritage?” Haaretz, 3/12/15
Winsor, Morgan, “ISIS Torches 1,500 Historic Manuscripts In
Iraq, Sells Looted Artifacts On Black Market: Report,” International Business
Times, 3/12/15
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