It has been reported that the Islamic State has stepped up its ‘purge’ of Iraq’s cultural sites over the past month, most recently in Mosul – Iraq’s second city and the largest city currently controlled by the extremists.
Considering ‘culture,
civilization and science as their fierce enemies’, IS’s occupation of the city
has seen the destruction of dozens of historic sites holding meaning for Jews,
Christians, and Muslims alike, including the ancient Nineveh wall, the Citadel
Church and the mosques and tombs of the prophets Seth and Jonah. Mosul Museum is
now reported to be under the control of IS, with the museum’s prized collection
of art and antiquities facing destruction or sale on the black market. Numerous reports
point to IS using the looting and trafficking of
such antiquities to fund their campaign.
Most recently, Mosul’s
Central Library had around 2,000 items, including maps and books dating from
the Ottoman Empire, seized and allegedly burned for promoting ‘infidelity’ and
‘disobeying Allah’. Whilst during the Iraq War
residents near the Central Library secreted away centuries-old manuscripts to
prevent their looting or destruction, IS has declared the penalty for such
actions death.
Meanwhile UNESCO has called the protection
of cultural heritage in Iraq and Syria ‘a security imperative’, and suggested
that protected cultural zones around heritage sites could be created through a
‘bottom up plan of action’, built on locals’ increasing aversion to the
violence, bloodshed and suffering. The meeting of 500 delegates at Paris
headquarters in December also called for
implementation of the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property
in the Event of Armed Conflict and its protocols, as well to end impunity
against deliberate attacks on cultural heritage, which is a war crime under the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Read more about UNESCO's call for protected cultural zones in Iraq and Syria here.
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