• 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 lays explosives in Syria’s Palmyra ruins

Jun 21, 2015 1:01 pm By Robert Spencer

PalmyraBesides removing supposed temptations to idolatry, Islamic jihadists want to destroy the artifacts of non-Muslim civilizations because doing so testifies to the truth of Islam, as the Qur’an suggests that the destroyed remnants of ancient non-Muslim civilizations are a sign of Allah’s punishment of those who rejected his truth:

Many were the Ways of Life that have passed away before you: travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who rejected Truth. (Qur’an 3:137)

This is one of the foundations of the Islamic idea that pre-Islamic civilizations, and non-Islamic civilizations, are all jahiliyya — the society of unbelievers, which is worthless. Obviously this cuts against the idea of tourism of ancient sites and non-Muslim religious installations. V. S. Naipaul encountered this attitude in his travels through Muslim countries. For many Muslims, he observed in Among the Believers, “The time before Islam is a time of blackness: that is part of Muslim theology. History has to serve theology.” Naipaul recounted that some Pakistani Muslims, far from valuing the nation’s renowned archaeological site at Mohenjo Daro, saw its ruins as a teaching opportunity for Islam, recommending that Qur’an 3:137 be posted there as a teaching tool.

“Islamic State lays explosives in Syria’s Palmyra ruins,” Agence France-Presse, June 21, 2015:

Islamic State jihadis have mined the spectacular ancient ruins in Syria’s Palmyra, according to an antiquities official and monitor, prompting fears for the Unesco world heritage site a month after the extremist group overran the central Syrian city.

Syria’s antiquities chief, Maamoun Abdulkarim, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said on Sunday that the group laid mines and explosives in Palmyra’s Greco-Roman ruins. The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said the explosives were laid on Saturday.

“It is not known if the purpose is to blow up the ruins or to prevent regime forces from advancing into the town,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. He said regime forces had launched heavy air strikes against the residential part of Palmyra in the past three days, killing at least 11 people.

“The regime forces are to the west outside the city, and in recent days they have brought in reinforcements suggesting they may be planning an operation to retake Palmyra,” he added.

A political source told AFP that a leading commander had been dispatched to the region to organise an offensive to recapture and secure Palmyra and several key gas fields nearby. Abdulkarim also said he had received reports from Palmyra residents that the ruins had been mined.

“We have preliminary information from residents saying that this is correct, they have laid mines at the temple site,” he told AFP. “I hope that these reports are not correct, but we are worried.”

He urged “Palmyra’s residents, tribal chiefs and religious and cultural figures to intervene to prevent this … and prevent what happened in northern Iraq”, referring to Isis’s destruction of heritage sites there. “I am very pessimistic and feel sadness,” he added.

Isis captured Palmyra, which is famed for its extensive and well-preserved ruins, on 21 May. The group has regularly heavily mined its territory to make it more difficult to recapture.

The city’s fall prompted international concern about the fate of the heritage site described by Unesco as of “outstanding universal value”. Before it was overrun, the head of the UN cultural body urged that the ruins be spared, saying they were “an irreplaceable treasure for the Syrian people, and the world”.

Isis has released several videos documenting its destruction of heritage sites in Iraq and Syria. In its extreme interpretation of Islam, statues, idols and shrines amount to recognising objects of worship other than God and must be destroyed.

There have been no reports of damage to sites in Palmyra since Isis seized it, though the group’s fighters reportedly entered the city’s museum, which had largely been emptied of its collection before the jihadis arrived.

The group killed more than 200 people in and around Palmyra in the days after capturing the city, including 20 who were shot dead in the ancient ruins, according to the Observatory….

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: Featured, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), Islamic supremacism, Syria Tagged With: jahiliyya, Palmyra


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Comments

  1. Angemon says

    Jun 21, 2015 at 1:12 pm

    Syria’s antiquities chief, Maamoun Abdulkarim, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said on Sunday that the group laid mines and explosives in Palmyra’s Greco-Roman ruins. The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said the explosives were laid on Saturday.

    “It is not known if the purpose is to blow up the ruins or to prevent regime forces from advancing into the town,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

    They probably want to celebrate the end of ramadan with a bang.

  2. IQ al Rassooli says

    Jun 21, 2015 at 3:29 pm

    Charli

    You put it in a nutshell

    Nothing more needs to be added

    IQ al Rassooli
    Kafir & Proud!

  3. Solsticewitch13 says

    Jun 21, 2015 at 7:07 pm

    my heart is BREAKING to think these lunatics will destroy this amazing beautiful, ancient site.

    I used to just hate islam, but now I hate muslims too. I am so sick of this insane shit.

    Imagine a world without islam. This death cult needs to be utterly destroyed globally.

  4. Richie says

    Jun 21, 2015 at 7:23 pm

    My predication- in the 2050s, Muslims who then will control Rome will destroy every Roman statue and piece of antiquity they can find. Then by 2100 Muslims from Turkey will invade and destroy all Greek statues and ruins. Anyone who complains will be arrested and face execution by an Islamic fascist government

  5. abad says

    Jun 21, 2015 at 9:12 pm

    This is why Islam needs to be wiped off the face of this planet.

  6. Cecilia Ellis says

    Jun 21, 2015 at 11:37 pm

    “Isis has released several videos documenting its destruction of heritage sites in Iraq and Syria. In its extreme interpretation of Islam, statues, idols and shrines amount to recognising objects of worship other than God and must be destroyed.”

    – That should do it! There goes to Ka’bah and the Black Stone . . .

    • Cecilia Ellis says

      Jun 21, 2015 at 11:39 pm

      Comment above should read: There goes the Ka’bah and the Black Stone . . .

  7. chanah says

    Jun 22, 2015 at 7:43 am

    The city’s fall prompted international concern about the fate of the heritage site described by Unesco as of “outstanding universal value”. Before it was overrun, the head of the UN cultural body urged that the ruins be spared, saying they were “an irreplaceable treasure for the Syrian people, and the world”.

    And to hell with the ppl being murder why would Unesco worry and care more abt some ruins than ppl is beyond me I don’t see any condemnation for the murder of the 200 ppl in and around Palmyra

  8. Betty says

    Jun 22, 2015 at 8:35 pm

    WELL THEY ARE STILL DESTROYING ALL THESE SITES. AND THEY PROMISED TO DESTROY MECCA AND THE BLACK STONE BUT SO FAR IT IS ALL TALK.NO ACTION. STILL WAITING. FOR ACTION IN THIS ONE.

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

  • janicevanguilder on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Boycott Turkey on Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, France and UAE conduct joint military exercises amid rising Turkish threat
  • Yogi on EU Parliament members call for firing of border agency director for preventing illegal migrants from entering Europe
  • Hoi Polloi on Why so many Muslims can’t wait for Biden to get inaugurated
  • Hoi Polloi on EU Parliament members call for firing of border agency director for preventing illegal migrants from entering Europe

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.