Saturday, September 20, 2014

Turning Art into Blood Diamonds




By Steve Whelan


Avastar, a media network generally known for its art, music and entertainment news and lifestyle pieces recently released a serious news article under their Art Division, which exposes the little known truth behind the IS (Islamic State) terrorist funding.  This year alone, the world has received wave after wave of disturbing news on the atrocities of the IS, formerly known as ISIS.  Their acts of violence include mass killings, displacement of 1.2 million people from their homes, the kidnapping of almost 150 children and the murder of three Western captives.  How are they funding these terrorist activities and what is the connection between art and IS?  

Besides selling oil, robbing banks and attacking and holding territories, they have looted precious Syrian artifacts and traded them on the black market, making their way to private collectors around the world.  What these collectors may not know (or want to know) is that these historic and prehistoric cultural treasures are being stolen and treated as blood diamonds to grow and train IS fighters.  In addition, shrines, tombs, churches, and mosques have been destroyed, in an attempt to erase history out of sectarian religious hatred. 

To read more on this topic, see ‘Syria’s Cultural Artifacts are Blood Diamonds forISIS’ or email news@avastar.tv with your comments.


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