Syrian antiquities – systematic targeting and urgent protection measures

Under the title “ War and Antiquities” a symposium was held at Dar Al-Assad for Culture in Lattakia  on the condition of  Syrian antiquities in light of the terrorist war on Syria ,  the destruction and damage which the antiquities were subjected to with the aim of  obliterating  our cultural heritage  as well as  measures taken to protect them .

The Director General of Antiquities and Museums( DGAM)  Dr. NazirAwad reviewed the systematic and deliberate sabotage against  the Syrian cultural heritage in addition to  destroying, bulldozing, excavating, looting and smuggling hundreds of thousands of artifacts abroad supported by foreign  parties to undermine  the national identity of the Syrians.

Awad referred to the measures taken by the DGAM  and concerned  authorities to transfer  many artifacts from  the targeted areas with the help of the Syrian Arab Armyin addition to launching the urgent safeguarding project for the Syrian cultural heritage in cooperation with UNESCO in 2014 in Paris.

In turn,  Director of Lattakia Antiquities Dr. Ibrahim Khairbek  believed that  antiquities are a heritage for  all mankind , reviewing the impact of the terrorist war on them in addition to  the precautionary measures taken to protect archaeological sites and museums.

For his part , the researcher  Dr. Bassam Jamous focused in his intervention on the fact  that the war  against Syria and our Arab homeland is a cultural war, a war of identity, heritage and falsification of facts..

He stressed that the systematic change  carried out by the Zionist entity to the cultural identity of Jerusalem and Palestine is a glaring example, referring in this connection to the  US  invasion of Iraq and the accompanying looting and destruction of Iraqi antiquities.

For his part, Dr. Humam Sa’ad, Director of Archaeological Excavations and Studies, drew attention through pictures and figures to the reality of antiquities in Syria before and after the terrorist war in the sites of Ebla  and Palmyra.

Head of the Arab Writers Union branch, Dr. Muhammad Basal, referred to the role of thinkers, writers and archaeologists in unveiling   the main  goals of the war on Syriamainly   obliterating  its culture , which constitutes the cradle  of civilizations , to make it easier for the Zionist entity to declare its racist state in this region.

The symposium also included a legal intervention on the local and international legal framework for the protection of cultural heritage presented by the expert in archaeological law Ayman Suleiman, while Dr. Ahmed Deeb, Director of the Al-Basel Center for Archaeological Research and Training reviewed the Syrian experience in protecting and preserving heritage in light of the terrorist war.

RawaaGhanam