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Are ‘unheard of numbers’ of cultural goods from Syria and Iraq making their...
Buzzfeed journalist Sheera Frenkel has extended the continuing analysis of How ISIS Became the Richest Terrorist Group in the World. I’m concerned that some unevidenced claims are becoming received...
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Islamic State cultural racketeering: looting, smuggling, taxation of...
Archaeologists Amr Al-Azm and Salam al-Kuntar and cultural policy specialist Brian Daniels have written an op-ed on ISIS’ antiquities sideline in the New York Times, in order to highlight the social...
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There is not yet any evidence that the Islamic State has destroyed Sufi...
Ruslan Trad @ruslantrad asked me, ‘is this true? “Islamic State destroys Sufi shrines in eastern Syria“‘ (in Deir Ezzor). I have fact-checked this report, but I repeat: I cannot do this fact-checking...
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Alalam does not have any evidence that the Islamic State has destroyed Sufi...
Since some of Alalam’s false evidence was slightly less obvious than the rest (in the last post), I felt I should debunk it properly. Alalam News Channel‘s photos have been recycled from the...
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ISIS have destroyed the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church in Deir ez-Zor
I’m on the road at the moment, but I haven’t been able to outrun the bad news. I first heard claims that the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church had been destroyed through the Antiquities Coalition...
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There is only one thing worse than not being read, and that is being read (by...
Within hours of me showing that the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church in Deir ez-Zor had been destroyed by the Islamic State (or factions within the Islamic State) @conflictantiq, the comparison image...
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Confirmed arson, alleged theft and perpetrators: destruction during Kobani...
Siirt Province Director of Culture and Tourism, Cengizhan Başaran, said ‘our library was set on fire in unpermitted protests. Regarding our stock, nothing remained, our computers, our chairs and our...
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I did report the allegation that Kurdish nationalists had burned the Ziya...
‘Kurdish nationalists are alleged to have been involved in the looting and arson of the Ziya Göklap Museum [Ziya Gökalp Museum] and other cultural sites during widespread unrest throughout Turkey,...
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Syria/Lebanon: antiquities-for-arms – have fakes been added to the real deal...
Paul Barford ‘note[d] the large (I’d guess fake) “Syracuse dekas”‘ in a Russia Today (RT) video report on Relics for Rifles and rightly asked: ‘What’s going on? Have they been added to a real haul of...
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How the West buys ‘conflict antiquities’ from Iraq and Syria (and funds terror)
Reuters have just published my analysis and opinion piece on how the West buys ‘conflict antiquities’ from Iraq and Syria (and funds terror), where I explain how the antiquities market, antiquities...
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Under-employed archaeologists and under-policed borders in Turkey
Hyperallergic have just published my news report on cultural heritage workers’ imminent hunger strike in Turkey. It may not immediately appear to be a subject for Conflict Antiquities, but much of the...
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The making of the making of an urban legend?
Regarding the claim that the Islamic State has made $36m from the illicit trade in Syrian antiquities, Cultural Property Observer – and antiquities collecting lobbyist – Peter Tompa has rightly...
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Thirty to fifty percent of Islamic State’s assets come from antiquities...
I’ve just woken up and I’m rushing to get out, so I’ll be brief. ‘Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s ISIS has amassed a kitty of over $2 billion, thirty to fifty percent of which comes from the sale of artifacts...
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Turkish and Kurdish, secularist and Islamist sites burned. Anti-massacre...
Hyperallergic have published my look at the targets of political violence in unrest over Kobani in Turkey. While anti-massacre protesters – who were presented as pro-Kurdish or Kurdish nationalist...
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There is a lot wrong with Robert Fisk’s report on the destruction of the...
There is a lot wrong with Robert Fisk’s seven-week-late report that Jabhat al-Nusra blows up Armenian church in Deir el-Zour: A savage blow that echoes through Armenian history, including the date of...
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Turkey could employ cultural heritage workers to support seizures of conflict...
Hyperallergic has published my update on the threatened hunger strike of cultural workers in Turkey, which has been averted by government concessions (or postponed with empty promises). In the article,...
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Who destroyed the Armenian Genocide Martyrs’ Memorial Church in Deir Ezzor?
Hyperallergic have published my fisking of, well, Fisk. ‘Fifty days after the destruction of the Armenian Genocide Martyrs’ Memorial Church in Deir Ezzor, Robert Fisk has reported it, but his report is...
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UNSC Monitoring Team recommendation: moratorium on trade in undocumented...
Peter Campbell (@peterbcampbell) has broken the news that, in a Letter (1) to the Chair of the United Nations Security Council Committee on Al-Qaida and Associated Individuals and Entities, the...
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German media investigation does not disprove Islamic State antiquities...
Hyperallergic have published my post on claims and denials of antiquities trade funding of paramilitary activity in Syria and Iraq. Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR have analysed some of the data from...
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The antiquities trade in the Islamic State: 12.5% taxation of private...
Die Zeit has conducted a massive investigation into Islamic State finances. It involved twelve journalists in seven countries, including Syria and Iraq. Notably, the IS does not appear to impose al...
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