Aqsa Tariq - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Aqsa Tariq

Research paper thumbnail of The Destruction of Antiquity in Syria and Iraq: We Ought to Care about a Viable Solution

The safety of historic artifacts has been in decline and one of the most evident examples of this... more The safety of historic artifacts has been in decline and one of the most evident examples of this statement would be the unprecedented destruction of archeological sites, museums, and artifacts within Middle Eastern countries— specifically in Syria and Iraq. There are three generally recurring concerns that archeologists, governments, and journalists indicate as the underlying issues of artifact preservation: the first concern is that looting is rampant as a consequence of terrorist activities and civil war, the second concern is that the desired function of governments and preservation organizations ought to be lessening destruction, and the third concern is that the final fate of the antiquities ought to include an adequate punishment for the criminals. All of these points are being discussed by interested parties in an effort to come up with a long term solution that will benefit the people as well as the history. In this paper we will explore the fundamentalist ideals which fuel the desecration of antiquity, the historic relevance of a variety of damaged or destroyed sites, and we will assert that a long term solution that involves targeting the illegal trade of antiquities, the economic foundation of ISIS, and the withdrawal of aggressive foreign military forces. A fundamentalist terrorist is a person or group that uses a narrow view of a religious conviction to validate atrocious acts, and they use terror as a tool to facilitate an agenda of radical social and political change. 1 A terrorist will use the fear generated to indicate that no one is safe from them or their ability to take action. ISIS is a terrorist group who, like all other fundamentalist terrorists, exploit terror for their own benefit. In addition to the loss of life and displacement of the local populations, ISIS has taken to destroying ancient artifacts, sites, and books in an effort to eliminate from the world what they perceive as idolatrous religions. These artifacts offer perspective on our collective human history and they have contributed greatly to our understanding of both the ancient and the recent past. History primarily relies upon written records and documents to interpret the broad strokes of previous lives and events, and archaeology provides another source of information for these time periods and allows us to perceive a time before written language to understand how earlier humans 1 Karima Bennoune, interview by Michael Enright. Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here. CBC Radio. July 17 th , 2015.

Research paper thumbnail of The Destruction of Antiquity in Syria and Iraq: We Ought to Care about a Viable Solution

The safety of historic artifacts has been in decline and one of the most evident examples of this... more The safety of historic artifacts has been in decline and one of the most evident examples of this statement would be the unprecedented destruction of archeological sites, museums, and artifacts within Middle Eastern countries— specifically in Syria and Iraq. There are three generally recurring concerns that archeologists, governments, and journalists indicate as the underlying issues of artifact preservation: the first concern is that looting is rampant as a consequence of terrorist activities and civil war, the second concern is that the desired function of governments and preservation organizations ought to be lessening destruction, and the third concern is that the final fate of the antiquities ought to include an adequate punishment for the criminals. All of these points are being discussed by interested parties in an effort to come up with a long term solution that will benefit the people as well as the history. In this paper we will explore the fundamentalist ideals which fuel the desecration of antiquity, the historic relevance of a variety of damaged or destroyed sites, and we will assert that a long term solution that involves targeting the illegal trade of antiquities, the economic foundation of ISIS, and the withdrawal of aggressive foreign military forces. A fundamentalist terrorist is a person or group that uses a narrow view of a religious conviction to validate atrocious acts, and they use terror as a tool to facilitate an agenda of radical social and political change. 1 A terrorist will use the fear generated to indicate that no one is safe from them or their ability to take action. ISIS is a terrorist group who, like all other fundamentalist terrorists, exploit terror for their own benefit. In addition to the loss of life and displacement of the local populations, ISIS has taken to destroying ancient artifacts, sites, and books in an effort to eliminate from the world what they perceive as idolatrous religions. These artifacts offer perspective on our collective human history and they have contributed greatly to our understanding of both the ancient and the recent past. History primarily relies upon written records and documents to interpret the broad strokes of previous lives and events, and archaeology provides another source of information for these time periods and allows us to perceive a time before written language to understand how earlier humans 1 Karima Bennoune, interview by Michael Enright. Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here. CBC Radio. July 17 th , 2015.