How ISIS profits from destroying historical artifacts
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The Islamic State has gained even more notoriety by threatening to "wipe history" as they continue to bring destruction to several sites in ancient Syria and Iraq.
Highlights
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
9/4/2015 (8 years ago)
Published in Middle East
Keywords: ISIS, terrorism, historical artifacts destruction
MUNTINLUPA CITY, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - ISIS is cashing in while destroying history. After successfully wiping out the 2,000 year old Temple of Baalshamin earlier this month, archaeologists claim there is a higher demand on the antiques the Jihadist group stole.
Reports claim antiques from the city of Palmyra are already on sale on London.
As the group spreads terror and threatens to destroy the few remaining artifacts, the value of the stolen treasures increases.
In the recent months, ISIS has released a number of images and videos showing their soldiers knock down frescoes and razing ancient sites like the Syrian city of Palmyra.
Antique expert Joanne Farchakh says that far from being destroyed, the stolen artifacts -the idols that ISIS claims to despise- are being smuggled out of the country and sold on the black market.
If more historical sites are reduced to rubble, prices of the artifacts will increase alongside the growth of the group's infamy.
Farchakh claims, "Every single antiquity ISIS sells out of Palmyra is priceless. It is taking billions of dollars. The market is there. It will take everything on offer and it will pay anything for it." ISIS, according to the archaeologist, "is gaining in every single step it takes, every destruction."
She believes several antiques from Palmyra are already being sold in London and other parts of Europe just months after ISIS seized the city.
ISIS is also learning from their mistakes. One of its videos featuring 20-second footage of Nimrud blown to pieces was not sufficient to get maximum exposure for their group. Now ISIS is planning to destroy historical sites in stages, just like what they did in Palmyra.
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