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3 to discuss many aspects of the Middle East and Islamism: http://www.danielpipes.org/15585/real-realism.
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for Tikrit. http://www.danielpipes.org/15587/tikrit-battle.
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(I particularly recommend this one.)
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Pipes
Islam
Bulldozes the Past
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The recent bulldozing by the Islamic State (ISIS) of the ancient
cities of Nimrud,
Hatra,
and Korsabad,
three of the world's greatest archaeological and cultural sites, is just
this group latest round of assaults across the large area under its
control. Since January 2014, the flamboyantly barbaric ISIS has blown up Shi'i
mosques, bulldozed churches,
pulverized shrines,
and plundered museums.
Worse, the ISIS record fits into an old and common pattern of
destruction of historical artifacts by Muslims.
Some attacks target the works of other, rival religions, such as Orthodox
churches in northern Cyprus (since 1974), the Bamiyan Buddhas in
Afghanistan (in 2001), the Ghriba
synagogue in Tunisia (2002), an historic Hindu
temple in Malaysia (2006), and the Assyrian
antiquities ("idols") in Mosul (2015). On a personal level,
a Saudi national smashed historic statues at the Senso-Ji
Buddhist temple in Tokyo in 2014. Nor is this danger over: Islamic
leaders have bruited plans to destroy Persepolis in Iran, St.
Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai, and the Great
Pyramids
of Egypt.
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After the 1974
invasion, Turkish forces made many churches in northern Cyprus fit only
for animals.
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In some cases, conquerors turn non-Islamic holy places into Islamic ones,
thereby asserting the supremacy of Islam. This can be done by converting
them into Islamic sanctities, such as the Kaaba in Mecca, the Cathedral
of St. John in Damascus, and the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; or
building on top of them, such as Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and Babri
Masjid in Ayodhya, India.
Muslims of one denomination sometimes destroy the legacy of other
Islamic sects. Recent examples include the tomb of Sidi Mahmoudou, a
medieval structure in Timbuktu
(2012), Sufi
tombs in Libya (2012), and the libraries
of Mosul (2015). But best known is the Saudi destruction of
antiquities in Mecca
since the 1990s, applying strict Wahhabi principles of non-intercession;
even Muhammad's
tomb in Medina is in jeopardy.
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The Taliban blew up a
monumental sixth-century Buddha statue in 2001.
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Destruction also accompanies the fighting of war; the Syrian
conflict since 2011 has been particularly devastating in this regard,
with battles causing severe damage to such grand antiquities as the Citadel
of Aleppo, the Umayyad
Mosque, and Crac
des Chevaliers. Alongside, smuggling and other profit-making
activities to pay for war costs leads to the wholesale stealing and
trafficking of rare antiquities; UNESCO reports, for example, that the
ancient Syrian site of Apamea
is "completely destroyed."
Ancient artifacts might even be demolished because their space is
needed for something deemed urgent. The Palestinian Authority threw out
precious Temple Mount archeological remains as mere rubble in 2000 to
build a mosque. In 2013, Hamas
bulldozed part of the 3,000-year-old Anthedon
Harbor in Gaza for military purposes and the Turkish authorities
damaged the Byzantine-era walls of the Yedikule
Gardens to build a decorative pool.
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Al-Qaeda bombed the
Ghriba Synagogue in Tunisia in 2002.
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Finally, there are gratuitously self-inflicted cultural wounds. These
include the pillaging of Iraqi
museums, libraries, and archives (2003), the burning in 2011 of L'Institut
d'Égypte and looting of the Egyptian
Museum, the 2013 destruction of manuscripts
in Timbuktu and the ransacking of the Mallawi
Museum in Minya, Egypt, and the 2014 destruction at the Saeh
Library in Tripoli,
Lebanon and at the Museum
of Islamic Art in Cairo.
Why does Islam inspire its adherents to annihilate their own
patrimony? Because humiliation establishes and reinforces one's
superiority. Destruction of infidel remains confirms the superior power
of Muslims and, by implication, the truth of Islam. In parallel,
eliminating the vestiges of Muslim rivals establishes the superiority of
Islamism over other, less assertive interpretations of Islam.
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ISIS blew up Shi'ite
mosques in Mosul in 2014.
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While the seizure and appropriation of other monuments began at the
very inception of Islam (i.e., the Kaaba), the destruction that has
reached orgiastic heights with ISIS is something new; note that nearly
all the examples listed here date from the twenty-first century. Turned
around, those recently-destroyed antiquities survived so long because
Muslims had left them alone. In this regard, things are far worse these
days than ever before – not a surprise, as Islam is in its worst shape
ever. All other major religions have moved beyond such crudely violent
impulses whose motive is unacceptable and whose results are tragic.
Is there a Middle Eastern country that exults in its multi-religious
heritage, celebrates ancient artifacts on coins
and stamps,
builds fabulous
museums for its antiquities, treats archeology as a national pastime,
and studies manuscripts rather than burns them? Well, yes, there is. It's
called Israel. The rest of the region could learn
a thing or two about historical appreciation from the Jewish state.
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Both the name of the
Quwwat al-Islam ("Power of Islam") Mosque in Delhi and the
fact that it was built with materials from "27 idolatrous temples"
point to Islamic supremacism.
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Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org,
@DanielPipes) is president of the Middle East Forum. © 2015 by Daniel
Pipes. All rights reserved.
Mar. 20, 2015 addendum: For more details on most of the
incidents mentioned above, see my blog, "Islam vs.
History."
This
text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an
integral whole with complete and accurate information provided about its
author, date, place of publication, and original URL.
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