JUNE 2, 2015

Save Statues, Save Lives

ARGUMENT

Save Statues, SaveLivesStopping the Islamic State’s destruction ofthe Middle East’s heritage and history mustgo hand in hand with defeating theextremist group.BY , , MATTHEW BOGDANOS TESS DAVIS ATHEEL AL-NUJAIFI

At the height of the Roman Empire, the wealthymetropolis of Palmyra was a gateway to the riches ofPersia, India, and China. An ancient city even in thefirst century, Palmyra had grown over the previous2,000 years from a remote caravan station to a centerof culture and trade containing some of the world’sgreatest artistic treasures. Its sculptures, temples,theaters, and tombs in the desert sands on the road toDamascus remain a source of pride for Syria, whereJews, Christians, and Muslims have togetherprotected them for more than a millennium. Now it’sall under threat.

After a weeklong offensive against the modern town ofTadmur, the Islamic State stormed Palmyra on May21, raising its black flag over the ruins. Havingsurvived the ravages of time and invaders formillennia, this iconic site may not survive this latestsurge of ideological fanaticism. In an interview and avideo report, the group has claimed it will allowPalmyra’s ancient architecture to remain — even if thecity’s statues face destruction. But the group’s recenthistory demonstrates a troubling pattern.

In July 2014, the Islamic State obliterated the Judeo-Christian tomb of Jonah in Mosul in northern Iraqand with it the Sunni mosque of the Prophet Yunus.Exploiting destruction as propaganda, the groupposted a video this February of its black-clad thugstaking jackhammers to ancient Nineveh — once theworld’s largest city — and the colossal winged bullsthat had guarded it since the 7th century B.C. Theextremists then destroyed several priceless statues inthe nearby Mosul Museum before turning theirsenseless wrath to the fabled cities of Hatra,Khorsabad, and Nimrud. In the Islamic State’s latestarchaeological snuff film, a slick production completewith soundtrack and slow-motion special effects, the

jihadis showcased their attempts to destroy Nimrud;the Old Testament palace of Ashurnasirpal was showndisappearing in Hollywood-style explosions.

Nothing compares to the horror of the Islamic Statebutchering aid workers, captured soldiers, journalists,and religious minorities, even children. The group hasreportedly already started lining Palmyra’s streetswith the corpses of those who oppose them. The focusis, as it must be, on the human tragedy. But mourningthese attacks against heritage does not change thatfocus.

As devastating as this destruction is, history warns usthat worse is coming. Once you erase a people’shistorical identity, the next step is to erase the peoplethemselves. The Holocaust followed the razing of oldWarsaw; Cambodia’s Killing Fields followed thedestruction of churches, mosques, and pagodas.Stopping the Islamic State’s devastation of the region’sidentity and ending the humanitarian crisis must gohand in hand.

For the Islamic State, death and destruction areinextricably interwoven: According to the SyrianObservatory for Human Rights, the Islamic Staterecently executed 20 men in the famed Romanamphitheater of Palmyra, in a propaganda stuntredolent of the depravity of Joseph Goebbels. Becauseterrorists don’t respect borders any more than theyrespect human life or heritage, this pattern shouldconcern those far beyond the self-declared caliphate.It must be stopped.

But the biggest threat to cultural heritage is noticonoclasm. It is plunder-for-profit. For every

masterpiece that the IslamicState destroys on screen,For every

thousands of others line itscoffers through the global blackmarket.

In February, the G7’s FinancialAction Task Force, a Paris-based intergovernmental body,reported that the Islamic Statemay “have earned as much astens of millions” of dollars fromlooted Syrian antiquities alone.That same month, the UnitedNations Security Councilunanimously passed Resolution2199, recognizing that theIslamic State and groupsassociated with al Qaeda areusing “the looting andsmuggling of cultural heritage”to fund “recruitment efforts andstrengthen their operationalcapability to organize and carry

out terrorist attacks.” And just last week, the U.N.General Assembly passed Resolution 69/281, callingon all member states to help cut off terrorist financingfrom antiquities trafficking.

We welcome this recent condemnation, but it is longoverdue. Col. Matthew Bogdanos, head of theinvestigation into the 2003 looting of the IraqMuseum and one of this article’s authors, has beensounding the alarm for a decade. In the New YorkTimes, in his book Thieves of Baghdad, and before theUnited Nations, Interpol, and British Parliament, hehas argued that antiquities trafficking is financing thebullets and bombs that are killing so many.

In June 2014, Tess Davis, another of this article’s

masterpiecethat theIslamic Statedestroys onscreen,thousands ofothers lineits coffersthrough theglobal blackmarket.

authors, cautioned in the British Journal ofCriminology — based on years of on-the-ground workin Cambodia — that looted antiquities were fundingcriminals and terrorists. And earlier this year, whilegovernor of Nineveh, the third author of this article,Atheel al-Nujaifi, warned the United NationsEducational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) that the Islamic State was “stealingvaluable relics which they intend to sell.” Like theTaliban in Afghanistan (who learned to finance terrorwith opium) and Charles Taylor in Sierra Leone (whopaid for war crimes with diamonds), the Islamic Statefinances its campaign of death with antiquities.

Although publicly denouncing art as blasphemous,behind the cameras, the Islamic State’s large-scaleantiquities trafficking operation suggests that it caresless about idolatry than it does about dollars. A cozycabal of academics, dealers, collectors, and museumsturns a blind eye to the illicit side of the trade that isfunding terror. In surprisingly few steps, an antiquitycan travel from an Islamic State-controlled looterthrough a smuggler who sells it to a dealer or galleryowner, who then launders it with false provenancedocumentation and sells it at auction or privately to anindividual collector or museum.

No one has hard numbers — the traffic in artifacts forcash for arms is too shadowy a phenomenon, andmany investigations remain classified because of theterrorist connection. But a single cylinder seal — anintricately carved piece of stone the size of a piece ofchalk — can sell for $250,000 and cross bordersundetected by drug-sniffing dogs or metal detectors.Controlling more than 4,500 archaeological sites inthe region, the Islamic State requires that anyindependent looters fork over one-fifth of theirproceeds under the Quran’s war-booty provision. It is

an income stream sufficient to allow any chieffinancial officer to sleep soundly.

As a result, the desert night is filled with the roar ofbulldozers ripping into ancient mounds of clay thatwere once thriving cities, such as Palmyra, whoseincomparable works of art predate the split betweenSunni and Shiite. Many even predate the threecompeting traditions — Judaism, Christianity, andIslam — that have brought so much bloodshed to theMiddle East. Through a universal and transcendentlanguage, these relics remind us of our commonbeginnings.

Two weeks ago, Egypt, the Middle East Institute, andthe Antiquities Coalition convened an emergencysummit in Cairo to address the Islamic State’s fundingfrom antiquities trafficking. This historic eventbrought together the secretary general of the ArabLeague, ministers from 10 Middle Eastern and NorthAfrican countries, the director general of UNESCO,and others, including Bogdanos and Davis. The result,announced in the Cairo Declaration, was a jointinitiative to halt the supply of, and demand for, “bloodantiquities.”

The participating countries — Egypt, Iraq, Jordan,Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan,and the United Arab Emirates — agreed to establish atask force supported by an international advisory

committee. By coordinatingtheir efforts as a region for thefirst time, these countries havean unprecedented opportunityto take quick action against anillicit trade that frequentlythwarts efforts at investigationby crossing borders.

coordinatingtheir effortsas a region

The Cairo Declaration is a signthat the region is finally ready tolead the fight to stop this threatto security and heritage. A billpassed by the U.S. House ofRepresentatives on Monday,which would restrict imports ofarchaeological material fromSyria, is also a promising sign.But this is a global problem thatrequires a global solution. Allcountries — origin, transit, anddestination points alike — mustincrease scrutiny at borderswhen coming across allantiquities, especially for thosecoming from war-torn regions.

The art world hasresponsibilities as well. In thelast year alone, some of theworld’s most well-knownauction houses, museums, andcollectors have been linked tomasterpieces that were stolenduring the Holocaust andCambodia’s Killing Fields.Those who deal in antiquities —whether in a warehouse inGeneva, at an art gallery inManhattan, or on the board of amuseum — must require greaterdocumentation of artifacts’origins and histories to ensurethey are not purchasing the

products of crime and conflict. Otherwise they are nobetter than criminals and war profiteers and should betreated as such, subject to criminal prosecution and

for the firsttime, thesecountrieshave anunprecedent

opportunityto take quickactionagainst anillicit trade

frequentlythwartsefforts atinvestigationby crossingborders.

prison.

This responsibility will long outlast the Islamic State.That illicit art from World War II is just now beingrecovered demonstrates that this struggle will bemeasured in decades, not years. But the battle mustbegin today to stop the destruction before it is too late.

Photo credit: JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images