• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Islamic State reportedly selling Christian artifacts, turning churches into torture chambers

Dec 26, 2014 11:45 am By Robert Spencer

Church Maaloula“The terrorist group has sought to destroy religious groups that don’t embrace its twisted and violent interpretation of Islam.” Reporter Perry Chiaramonte assumes that the Islamic State’s interpretation of Islam is “twisted” because that is the acceptable opinion today. The fact that it has not been established, and flies in the face of the obvious fact that the Islamic State is extremely attractive to many young Muslims in the West because of its claim to reconstitute the caliphate, as well as its strict adherence to Islamic norms, is considered irrelevant.

“ISIS reportedly selling Christian artifacts, turning churches into torture chambers,” by Perry Chiaramonte, FoxNews.com, December 23, 2014:

The Islamic State is turning Christian churches in Iraq and Syria into dungeons and torture chambers after stripping them of priceless artifacts to sell on the black market, according to reports.

Ancient relics and even entire murals are being torn from the houses of worship and smuggled out through the same routes previously established for moving oil and weapons in and out of the so-called caliphate, a vast region the jihadist army has claimed as sovereign under Sharia law.

“ISIS has a stated goal to wipe out Christianity,” Jay Sekulow, of the American Center for Law and Justice and the author of “Rise of ISIS: A Threat We Can’t Ignore,” told FoxNews.com. “This why they are crucifying Christians — including children — destroying churches and selling artifacts. The fact is, this group will stop at nothing to raise funds for its terrorist mission.”

It’s not clear what items have been stolen, but the terrorist group has sought to destroy religious groups that don’t embrace its twisted and violent interpretation of Islam, and has already blown up several revered Christian sites and monuments.

Last July, ISIS militants used sledgehammers to destroy the tomb of Jonah in Mosul. Around the same time, they were destroying Sunni shrines and mosques in the northern province of Ninevah, including the Shia Saad bin Aqeel Husseiniya shrine in the city of Tal Afar and the al-Qubba Husseiniya, as well as Christian churches in Syria. The group follows a strict interpretation of the Sunni faith which is against idolatry of anything other than God. ISIS has also threatened to destroy the holy sight [sic] of Mecca in Saudi Arabia….

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), Muslim persecution of Christians Tagged With: al-Qubba Husseiniya, Saad bin Aqeel Husseiniya shrine


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Comments

  1. Libyan Jihad says

    Dec 26, 2014 at 11:56 am

    “The group follows a strict interpretation of the Sunni faith which is against idolatry of anything other than God”
    That is true monotheism.

    • RG says

      Dec 26, 2014 at 12:06 pm

      @ Libyan Jihad.
      But surely you speak ‘tongue in cheek’! Right?!?

      One thing is clear…
      ISIS is not monotheistic in any sense of the word!

      ISIS IS SATANIC IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD!

      P.S. Of course, if you figure that Satan is ‘one god’–then I suppose you’ve made your point! Right???

      • Libyan Jihad says

        Dec 26, 2014 at 12:24 pm

        Satanic? the ridiculousness of you infidels keeps surprising me everyday, of course the proud devil worshipers the Yazidis are never called Satanic, since you are on their side it just proves who truly serves Satan.

        • CogitoErgoSum says

          Dec 26, 2014 at 1:08 pm

          And just how do you prove you are on the side of God … by killing, raping, enslaving children? Your god of murder named Allah is not the one true God. Your prophet named Muhammad deceives with his lies even to this day. He reaches out from the grave to drag you down. You can rise above him and put a better purpose to your life if you would look beyond the veil that covers your mind. I hope you find the truth before your last breath finds you.

      • somehistory says

        Dec 26, 2014 at 1:01 pm

        RG,

        These guys, like the one you addressed in your comment, are in a state of denial, of delusion, and have their eyes blinded by satan the devil. Unless they have a heart and the will to live a decent life, they will never admit that they serve satan. They accuse all others of serving the false god, but they are the ones who follow satan’s false prophet…who never uttered a prophecy that one could look at and say *fulfilled*….
        A true prophet tells the truth and leads others back to the True God. False prophets, such as the best known and worst of his kind, muhammed, lead others to the devil to do the bidding of that original serpent and dragon.
        One can reason with a worshipper of satan, such as you endeavored to do, but unless they have a heart, they refuse to hear. They refuse reason and accept the garbage that is islam. They worship a beast and its image, worshippers of satan that they are.

        • somehistory says

          Dec 26, 2014 at 4:44 pm

          Those who worship satan do deny they are worshipping the evil serpent.
          And this is what is meant by a *state of denial*…denying when all evidence says otherwise. They are blinded by satan, but they still deny when someone attempts to lift the blindfold and show them the way out.

          Much like anyone addicted to anything will deny the addiction when someone not addicted attempts to show them their error. We clearly see the denial from *c* below although the evidence is clear. These blind ones don’t want to see…that is why they deny.

    • Flying fish says

      Dec 26, 2014 at 5:57 pm

      Monotheism? Ha ha ha…that’s a funny one. Since when are you monotheists? Since a few minutes ago?

      You have worshipped the idols known as the terrorist manual quran and you false prophet muhammad, besides your allah = satan since your death cult was spawned. An unholy trinity.

      And a lot of you even worship that black cube in mecca too.

    • Glory of Kufr says

      Dec 27, 2014 at 8:35 am

      Satan loves hate, war, death, destruction, murder, rape, torture, suffering, and despair – and so do Allah and his believers, but not Melek Taus and his believers. Satan hates love, peace, life, mercy, tenderness, kindness, joy, and hope – and so do Allah and his believers, but not Melek Taus and his believers. So, who are the real Satanists? “By their fruit you will recognize them”, as said by Jesus Christ.

      Besides, the Islamic pretension to true monotheism is just laughable. You do not worship your Allah/Satan alone – you worship Allah/Satan AND Muhammad, who, according to your own theology, was just a man. Is worshipping a mere man as if he was God “true monotheism”? If yes, then any cult of personality is true monotheism, too. The North Korean state ideology is true monotheism. The Neo-Nazi worshipping of Hitler is true monotheism. And so on. Funny, no? So is the supposed “true monotheism” of Muhammadolaters.

    • Angemon says

      Dec 27, 2014 at 9:04 am

      Libyan Jihad posted:

      “That is true monotheism.”

      Why is muhammad mentioned so often alongside the moon god allah in the quran when simply mentioning allah would sufice?

    • greyhound fancier says

      Dec 27, 2014 at 5:13 pm

      Interesting that the same article cites a “twisted” interpretation of Islam, but also admits that ISIS has a “strict” interpretation of Islam. Therefore, can we conclude that “twisted” = “strict” Islam?

  2. John Foster says

    Dec 26, 2014 at 12:13 pm

    ISIL is simply a fundamentalist Islamic viewpoint. It is no more ‘twisted’ than the Sunni fundamentslists sharia law.

    In Suadi Arabia the punishment for bringing bibles into the vountry is death.

  3. Darren says

    Dec 26, 2014 at 1:36 pm

    The State Department who I refer to as the Islamic State Department, due to their love affair with jihadists and sharia was recruiting for positions at the Islamic State Department, at where else a muslim brotherhood dominated audience.

    http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2014/12/01/us-department-of-state-recruited-at-muslim-brotherhood-convention/

    Three star general says muslim brotherhood has infiltrated Department of Defense and holds high level positions.

    http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2012/09/26/three-star-general-rep-bachmann-was-right-muslim-brotherhood-has-infiltrated-our-government/

  4. Michael Copeland says

    Dec 26, 2014 at 1:52 pm

    We wait for Perry Chiaramonte to explain what is the non-twisted non-violent interpretation of Koran 9:5 (part of Islamic law) “Kill unbelievers wherever you find them”.
    Here is a non-twisted guide:
    Kill means kill. Stone means stone. Cut off means cut off.

  5. C says

    Dec 26, 2014 at 2:08 pm

    At Robert Spencer and his brainless followers: why don’t you cut the crap already. The fact of the matter is that you could not care less about the suffering of Christians. No, you only “care” when you can use it as a pretext to attack Muslims.

    • Aion says

      Dec 26, 2014 at 2:42 pm

      If you defend those who are committing atrocities like human sacrifice you are just a guilty of them as they are, C.

      • Jay Boo says

        Dec 26, 2014 at 8:04 pm

        C’s recursive cut and paste posting is just a typical defender of Islam Ad hominem attack meant to distract.
        This is a bit lazy and redundant. But what to expect from someone whose moniker is “c”
        “¡Basta Ya!”

    • gp says

      Dec 26, 2014 at 4:13 pm

      Smells like Islamic taqiyya with smoke and mirrors. But nice try.

      • somehistory says

        Dec 26, 2014 at 4:41 pm

        Could *c* be *cristy* who has of late been doing the same thing as *c* has done here?
        And this is what is meant by a *state of denial*…denying when all evidence says otherwise. They are blinded by satan, but they still deny when someone attempts to lift the blindfold and show them the way out.

        • don vito says

          Dec 27, 2014 at 11:01 pm

          True Dat. The C(rap) is indeed Miss Christy. With all her wallowing, aggressive and victimhood mongering. This does seem to fit the great delusion definition. The “elect” will be decieved.

    • gp says

      Dec 26, 2014 at 4:21 pm

      Nothing ISLAMIC about the ISLAMIC STATE, right Haji? It seems like we have heard that before, sadly
      Calls for genocide, murder, rape, mutilation, theft, terror, and mayhem-it is all in the Koran.

    • Flying fish says

      Dec 26, 2014 at 6:43 pm

      Ha ha ha….and people like you pretend to care for muslims and rush to their defense as some sort of knight in a shinning white armor, every time they do something horrible and use the quran to justify it, only to project your own hatred against the subjects of their merciless and inhuman attacks.

      You know what they are doing, what they really want to achieve, yet you keep your mouths shut on the matter or even lie through your teeth and make excuses for them while in public and clap to their heinous acts while in private.

      Anyway…Thanks for letting people know whose side you really are on.

  6. Marco says

    Dec 26, 2014 at 2:11 pm

    Meanwhile ISIS just present a formal challenge to the Indonesian government.

  7. somehistory says

    Dec 26, 2014 at 4:45 pm

    Question: Who is buying the artifacts?

    • dumbledoresarmy says

      Dec 26, 2014 at 7:29 pm

      Who knows?

      I guess it’s better that these vile mohammedans from ISIS are selling the artefacts rather than smashing and/ or burning them.

      But it’s just another variation of the hostage game, and faces the non-Muslim world with a similar dilemma: if you refuse to buy the priceless historical artefact – or refuse to pay ransom for the hostage – then the artefact may be destroyed and lost to the world, or the living hostage may be murdered. But if you pay – if you buy, if you pay the ransom – then the robbing-for-sale and the kidnapping-for-ransom continues, because it is profitable.

      And it reveals that at the core of Islam is not only thanatos – a sheer will-to-destroy – but also rampant, ruthless, this-worldly greed.

      Sometimes thanatos trumps greed in the mind of this or that mohammedan; sometimes greed trumps thanatos.

      The treatment of non-Muslim minorities seesaws back and forth between the two impulses – the impulse to hurt, humiliate and *destroy* utterly, versus the profit motive. The Mohammedan Mob can’t squeeze jizya from dead dhimmis who have been made too poor to be worth robbing…but the will-to-murder is so strong that periodically there are orgies of mass killing of dhimmi populations even though it would have made more sense to leave them alive so as to keep on getting jizya.

    • Darren says

      Dec 27, 2014 at 11:43 am

      I’m sure there are many rich collectors of such things all over the world, who would love to get bargain basement prices on some of these artifacts. I’m no expert but I would assume just like most things there is a black market for such items.

  8. duh_swami says

    Dec 27, 2014 at 7:26 am

    Allah is not Satan…Allah is zero. Allah does not exist so ‘it’ cannot be anything.
    That it ‘is’ something is an Islamic idea that should be rejected, not accepted.
    What gives Allah artificial life is the Quran…without it, Allah crashes and burns, or just blips out never to be seen or heard of again. I talk about Allah a lot, but it is all sarcasm, which is actually the proper way to talk about it…

  9. Glory of Kufr says

    Dec 27, 2014 at 8:45 am

    A sung Christmas prayer of the Assyrian Church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nH8TS_PikI

    Those beautiful ancient Christian cultures are now being completely eradicated from their homelands by beauty-hating Islamic barbarians while our leaders and intellectuals just watch and yawn. And if we do nothing about it, then we will be the next.

  10. TH says

    Dec 27, 2014 at 2:35 pm

    Tthe amount of historical and artistic patrimony lost in Syria and Iraq is staggering. These jihadi savages either destroy it or sell it off in the black market. They have emptied entire museums. Let’s not forget that Babylon and Syria are part of the cradle of civilization going back some 5500 years to the Sumerians, then the Babyloniians, the Hittites, the Asyrians, the Neobabylonian Empire of the 6tth century B.C., then the Greeks and Romans until jihad arrived there in the 7th century.

    It is genocide of a culture, the Chistian on in Iraq and Syria going back some 2000 years. Christianity spread from Jerusalem to Antioch in Syria, from where St. Paul undertook his missionary journeys.

    • Darren says

      Dec 28, 2014 at 2:06 pm

      Not just Iraq, anywhere they go this happens. How many beautiful Buddhist or Hindu works of art have been destroyed?

  11. Voytek says

    Dec 27, 2014 at 5:36 pm

    Why Iraqi muslims under Saddam Hussein’s rule were bearable and after the American invasion became unbearable?

    • don vito says

      Dec 27, 2014 at 11:14 pm

      That is a good question. Perhaps, there was much fear by moslems, of Saddums repression. Remember all the mass graves in the desert? Perhaps some sembilance of order? Perhaps the “authorities” would look upon any freelance acts as rebellion against Saddum? What do you think?

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • SKA on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Eva on Chief Rabbi of UK Says It’s ‘Alarming’ That 44% of Muslims Are Anti-Semitic
  • Eva on Chief Rabbi of UK Says It’s ‘Alarming’ That 44% of Muslims Are Anti-Semitic
  • Infidel on Chief Rabbi of UK Says It’s ‘Alarming’ That 44% of Muslims Are Anti-Semitic
  • Eva on Chief Rabbi of UK Says It’s ‘Alarming’ That 44% of Muslims Are Anti-Semitic

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.