ISIL Palmyra plunder

Ruins of Palmyra, Syria and site of notorious prison

Ancient archaeological sites have been prime targets for terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan and now in Palmyra, Syria.  Once the sites are seized, they are either plundered for artifacts to be sold on the antiquities black market or destroyed.  Additionally, in a stunning juxtaposition to Palmyra the archeological treasure is Palmyra, or Tadmor, the site of a monstrous prison.

The city of Palmyra called “The Pearl of the Desert” described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),  known as “Tadmor” in Arabic, is a heritage site of "outstanding universal value.”

UNESCO officials have warned that the destruction of Syria's ancient city of Palmyra would be "an enormous loss to humanity," after fighters belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the desert oasis, one of the Middle East's most famous heritage sites, according to a report in Aljazeera.

Irina Bokova, the head of the UN's cultural body UNESCO, called the ancient metropolis "the birthplace of human civilization", adding:

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"It belongs to the whole of humanity and I think everyone today should be worried about what is happening,” they said.

Amid the outpouring of concern for the possible destruction of the ancient site, one displaced Syrian remembers the city of Tadmor as the location of a horrific prison.

Palmyra chilling history as site of notorious prison

The prison is a symbol of oppression and torture under the Assad regimes going back to the 1980s and 1990s under the former Syrian President Hafez Assad.  The military prison was reportedly the site of summary executions and massacres and was closed in 2001 after Bashar Assad, the son of the previous ruler, took power.  Still, rumors persist that the prison was re-opened in 2011 after the Syrian revolution began to incarcerate dissidents and fighters in opposition to the current ruler Bashar Assad. 

In a 1996 Human Rights Watch Report, the prison was called a “kingdom of death and madness.” The report revealed a massacre in 1980 when 500 prisoners were killed in one day.  In another report Amnesty International cited that from 2001 the detainees were “completely isolated from the outside world” and the prison was designed to “inflict the maximum suffering, humiliation and fear on prisoners.”

The recounting of 12 years in Syrian prisons with 9 of those years in Tadmor, Dr. Bara Sarraj now living in Istanbul, Turkey is disgusted by ISIS claims. The fact that ISIS terrorist forces are claiming to have “freed” Tadmor cannot be reconciled by him as ISIS represents similar violent extremism that was responsible for his incarceration, reported in Huffington Post. 

Palmyra is a “gold mine” for looting terrorists and much more

ISIS terrorists view the ancient city as a potential “gold mine” to add to their coffers by selling artifacts that can be carried away and sold. 

Tadmor Prison (Palmyra, Syria) Credit mvalbuenalebrero

Palmyra Roman Amphitheater

The world is watching to see if the Roman ruins will be spared or decimated like other ancient ruins in the path of ISIS as they attempt to erase all vestiges of human civilization before their skewed definition of the beginning of Islam.

Similar to ethnic cleansing, ISIS wants to remove the historical roots from which a people emerged. “In order to dictate the future, ISIS is destroying the past,” reported in an op-ed by Haaretz. 

“The archaeological sites it destroys are from the Babylonian, Persian and Roman Empires. These eras represent a pluralistic past that legitimizes the presence of Chaldeans, Yazidis and other minorities in the region, with whom ISIS does not share a human heritage. ISIS' interpretation of history maintains that there are two historical eras: Jahiliyah (the time of ignorance) and, the later era, Islam (the time of enlightenment).

The presence of sites from the Babylonian, Persian and Roman Empires harks back to a golden age before Islam. ISIS is thus working to erase any trace of those eras, for it thinks it cannot control the future until it controls the past,” they said.

Vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Jonathan Schanzer, told Business Insider that ISIS gets most of its money from racketeering, including collection of "taxes" from the residents who live within the borders of the territory it has taken over, plundering people's homes, and looting historical sites and selling antiquities on the black market.

"It’s a racket. And that’s how ISIS continues to survive and thrive," Schanzer said. "They need to jump from community to community in order to sustain themselves financially,” according to Business Insider.

Looting as propaganda

ISIS has proven to be shrewd at using social media and world news reporting to release propaganda videos of militants destroying ancient sites to insight potential converts to their cause and attract recruits and get media attention from the shock value of the destruction. Much of the media coverage surrounding the seizure of Palmyra focused on the fact that a UNESCO World Heritage Site was now in danger.

Half of Syria is controlled by ISIS since the invasion of Palmyra. And while the world mourns the loss of lives attributed to the terrorist group, the world also grieves the decimation of historical sites as symbols of our civilization that future generations will only know from pictures.   

Check out
http://www.kaemena360.com/home/360o-city-tours/palmyra-syria.html
Mail Online - The slaughter of Palmyra's citizens begins: First images emerge from Syrian city over-run by ISIS... and show rows of people beheaded as terror group celebrates freeing Islamists from state prison 

Resources
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/syria-palmyra-unesco-isil-150522060557151.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-will-make-money-from-antiquities-in-palmyra-syria-2015-5
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/21/syria-palmyra-isis_n_7349194.html?ir=WorldPost
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.646517