Wayne Sayles can always be counted on to expose the lies of the cultural property crusaders. In his latest post of Sunday, November 23, 2014, 'Media rush to judgement challenged', he is as hard hitting and astute as ever.
Chasing Aphrodite blogger Jason Felch surely surprised some in the world of Archaeobloggers and Cultural Property Nationalists when he recently challenged a rash of sensationalized media claims on the part of "scholars" and "experts". The topic of this latest "meme" is the funding of terrorism and specifically of ISIS in Syria and Iraq. A "sandstorm" of pronouncements in various media have claimed that the sale of antiquities looted by ISIS is a multi-billion dollar enterprise, second only to their revenues from looted oil. While the evidence of ISIS looting and/or intentional destruction of cultural property is undeniable, the connection to ISIS funding through the sale of antiquities is far more spurious. That evidence is conspicuously lacking and the trade is essentially devoid of material that could conceivably have come through the hands of ISIS. Are these calls for embargo then strictly for show? I fear they are not. They are part of a deliberate long term program of disinformation [...] a not-so-subtle underlying crusade that threatens the very underpinnings of law, order and justice.Collectors and dealers need to expose these lies and rein in the extremists that threaten our rights and the very foundations of out great nation. Stop this now.
No comments:
Post a Comment