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Iraq/Syria: the first thing ISIL/ISIS do is ‘go after the wealth of those...
Following the original trail from Martin Chulov’s Guardian article, CTV’s Josh Elliot approached a security intelligence consultant for the Soufan Group (@TheSoufanGroup), Robert McFadden...
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Iraq/Syria: regulation of the antiquities market, including online trading,...
Kathleen Caulderwood followed up on antiquities trafficking funding for ISIL/ISIS(1) activity for International Business Times and Business Insider. She draws on Peter Campbell’s study of illicit...
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Did antiquities trafficking significantly facilitate the development of ISIS?
CNN’s Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) interviewed Martin Chulov (@martinchulov) regarding the inner workings of ISIS(1). In his original presentation of the $875m of assets that ISIS had accumulated...
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Is there significant evidence of paramilitary funding from the illicit...
According to antiquities collector and paid antiquities collecting lobbyist Peter Tompa (@Aurelius161180), ‘the archaeological lobby is cynically exploiting the rise of the ISIS terrorist group in Iraq...
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trafficking of antiquities (manuscripts) from ISIS-held Mosul to Turkey
On the 18th of June, the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities stated that it was ‘following the news of smuggling unique and rare manuscripts from Mosul to Turkey’, including ‘a rare Quran that...
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Is there a fact-checking service for violence against cultural property in...
Over the past week, I’ve noted that fear, concern and propaganda are spreading false information about destruction of cultural heritage in Iraq; ISIS are using fear to drive communities to exile...
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$36m from antiquities trafficking would fund 5,000 fighters for ISIS
ISIS pays its 10,000 fighters to $500-a-month (and funds a lot of other activities, too, obviously). Using a high wage of $600-a-month to ensure a low estimate, open-source arms monitor Eliot Higgins...
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the Islamic State is profiting from looting, dealing and smuggling of...
The Syrian Heritage Task Force’s Prof. Salam Al Kuntar and Prof. Amr Al Azm (@alazmamr) have revealed to the Sunday Times that the Islamic State is ‘imposing a “tax” on looted antiquities‘ in Iraq and...
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Mosul: no petrol, no salaries and only two hours of electricity a day –‘we...
Lamia Al Gailani Werr has shared more news from Mosul. Eleanor Robson (@Eleanor_Robson) has already tweeted the key points, and the news is fully archived on the Iraq Crisis listserv, but that is...
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The Interpol/Bonhams case could not possibly have involved the Islamic State....
As I’ve noted in an initial update to my post on the Sunday Times‘ article, Paul Barford’s identified an incorrect statement regarding evidence that the Islamic State is looting antiquities. The Sunday...
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video of “destruction of Tomb of Prophet Jonah” is from at least ten months...
[Update (25th July 2014): on the 24th of July, the Islamic State destroyed the Tomb of the Prophet Jonah - indeed, the entire Mosque of the Prophet Yunus. This blog post accurately debunks a piece of...
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There is no evidence that Saint Ephraim’s Cathedral in Mosul has been burned
So far, there is only propaganda – but there is a lot of it, which is already exploiting three years of real suffering across three countries. It is exploiting people’s concern in order to spread fear...
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Yet more bullshit, still no evidence that Saint Ephraim’s Cathedral in Mosul...
I’ve had to add a fourth alleged piece of evidence to my fact-checking post on the alleged burning of Saint Ephraim’s Cathedral in Mosul, because Erbil-based Noor Matti (@NoorBabylon) complained,...
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Ιράκ: δεν υπάρχει καμιά μαρτυρία ότι πυρπολήθηκε η Εκκλησία του Αγίου Πέτρου...
Φιλαδέλφεια Χαλκηδόνα έχει δημοσιογραφήσει/δημοσιεύσει ότι οι ψυχανώμαλοι εξτρεμιστές του Ισλαμικού Κράτους/του Χαλιφάτου είχαν έκαψαν την ιστορική εκκλησία του Αγίου Πέτρου στη Μοσούλη. Της έχω...
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mistake after mistake in Sunday Times report on Islamic State looting of...
Previously, I reported on the Sunday Times‘ claims that the Islamic State was profiting from looting, dealing and smuggling of antiquities from Syria and Iraq, and Paul Barford’s debunking of a key...
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Iraq/Syria: regulation of the antiquities market, including online trading,...
Kathleen Caulderwood followed up on antiquities trafficking funding for ISIL/ISIS(1) activity for International Business Times and Business Insider. She draws on Peter Campbell’s study of illicit...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Did antiquities trafficking significantly facilitate the development of ISIS?
CNN’s Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) interviewed Martin Chulov (@martinchulov) regarding the inner workings of ISIS(1). In his original presentation of the $875m of assets that ISIS had accumulated...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is there significant evidence of paramilitary funding from the illicit...
According to antiquities collector and paid antiquities collecting lobbyist Peter Tompa (@Aurelius161180), ‘the archaeological lobby is cynically exploiting the rise of the ISIS terrorist group in Iraq...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Khums: an un-Islamic tax for an Islamic antiquities market?
Before I say anything else, I want to reaffirm that it’s very difficult to get good evidence – some evidence is unreliable, some evidence is false – but it’s still very clear: everybody’s involved...
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The lure of antiquities in the New York Times and the trap of poor evidence...
The New York Times has explored the lure of antiquities. I don’t want the evidence to be misunderstood. Do you feel lucky? To protect themselves as much as anyone else, dealers and collectors should...
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