This is a scenario that we have seen play out previously. In some cases Islamic State Jihadists have destroyed antiquities of various types to symbolize their Salafist agenda. But in other cases they have surreptitiously absconded with such valuable artifacts and fenced them through legitimate dealers to raise money for Jihad… The FBI on Wednesday […]
Western Sales of Antiquities Fund Islamic State Jihad
“Many antique collectors unwillingly support terrorists like Islamic State, ” Michel van Rijn, one of the most successful smugglers of antique artifacts in the past century, told German broadcaster Das Erste this month. And smuggling is booming in Iraq and Syria right now. In Iraq, 4,500 archaeological sites, some of them UNESCO World Heritage sites, are reportedly […]
The Islamic State makes money many ways: zakat donations, oil revenue…and fencing stolen antiquities… In extensive conversations with those working and living in areas currently under ISIS control, we learned that ISIS is indeed involved in the illicit antiquities trade, but in a way that is more complex and insidious than we expected. In general, […]
Antiquity plundering—particularly from violence-riddled Syria and Iraq—fuels a $7 billion black market, and some of that money lands in the pockets of terrorists, say archaeologists and international watchdogs. “We’ve seen examples of objects originating in conflict zones — with the sale of them funding insurgents or terrorism — end up at your local museum or at your private […]
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