Kenneth Bandler, writing in the Jerusalem Post, wonders why anyone would still want to send the Jewish Archive back to Iraq given the sectarian violence in the country.
He might be surprised to learn there are probably more than a few in the archaeological community who still advocate doing so.
And let's not forget Syria. Archaeological groups are in full court press mode advocating that the US impose "emergency import restrictions."
But these would also help guarantee that any such Jewish artifacts that arrive here to escape destruction are repatriated by US Customs back to a country that is largely controlled either by the murderous Assad regime that is evidently responsible for shelling an important historic synagogue into dust or the even more murderous and destructive iconoclasts of ISIS.
Go figure.
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Surely Mr Tompa, it follows that anyone who advocates this kind of repatriation, especially the archaeological myopic who lead the visually impaired academics (so-called), are even greater heritage vandals than the regimes you highlighted?
Taken a step further, it is surely better to have looted artifacts in the market-place than have them destroyed by barbarous regimes? Indeed, I would suggest that so-called 'looters' might be considered to be engaging in rescue archaeology?
Perhaps those archaeologists who shout the most about smuggled/looted artifacts, ought to be encouraged to go and confront ISIS?
If Paul Barford, for instance, could meet ISIS rebels face-to-face and use the same language to them that he uses against detectorists and collectors I'm sure they woud be impressed.
Best wishes
John Howland
England
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