Senate Bill Hopes To Stop Looted Syrian Artifacts From Reaching The U.S.

A new Senate bill that aims to stop looted Syrian antiquities from being sold in the U.S. is also intended to telegraph a warning to American buyers.

Sen. Bob Casey, one of the bill’s three sponsors, said he hoped the new legislation would instill some fear in would-be buyers of the illicit artifacts helping to fund ISIS and other armed groups in the civil war. “Part of the underlying message I want to deliver is that if you’re involved in this in any way, you’re helping a terrorist organization,” he said in a phone interview with BuzzFeed News. “You’re not neutral.”

Some experts tracking the trade say there is little hard evidence that looted Syrian antiquities are being bought in the West on a significant scale. But others say that’s because middlemen on the black market keep the illegal origins of the looted items obscured, often using forged paperwork. Critics contend that some Western buyers either turn a blind eye to looted Syrian artifacts or don’t do enough to investigate their histories.

… 

If Western buyers purchase illicit Syrian artifacts, then they help to fund the conflict, knowingly or not, said Jonathan Schanzer, an expert on terrorism finance at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C. “They’re not only supporting ISIS [and other groups], they’re eroding history,” he said. 

… 

Read the full article here.