“The Venice of the Sands in Peril by G.W. Bowersock” | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books

May 28, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

Sowing a path of death and destruction, ISIS has taken another ancient city. The world looks on helplessly as they continue to slaughter all who do not meet their ideological standards, including women and children. And it is not enough for them to destroy the present, they feel that they must destroy the past as well. While there is no evidence of damage yet, it is likely that the magnificent ancient city of Palmyra will meet the same fate as Nimrud and Hatra.

In contemplating this possibility, G.W. Bowersock acknowledges the extensive archeological excavations of the site, but argues that “it would be folly to believe that the survival of archaeological reports and photographs could in any way compensate for the destruction or looting of the ancient remains. The preservation of buildings and objects that managed to survive for two thousand years of Palmyra’s history has to be a priority wherever civilization is cherished. The Arabs at Palmyra today, and undoubtedly many Arabs everywhere, know that the city belongs to them and their past.” Read his summary of the history of this splendid ancient city here:

The Venice of the Sands in Peril by G.W. Bowersock | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books.

“ISIS is threatening Palmyra, the Venice of Syria” | History News Network

May 20, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

Another ancient treasure is under threat from ISIS. Once these treasures are gone, they are gone forever! This is sickening!!

History News Network | ISIS is threatening Palmyra, the Venice of Syria.

Palmyra

Lessons From History: “A War to End Jihad” – NYTimes.com

May 1, 2015 / Debbie / 1 Comment

Examining the history of the Ottoman Empire, Eugene Rogan concludes: “With the fall of the Ottomans after the First World War, the Arab world entered a century of conflict. Caught between foreign domination and the rival appeals of nationalism and Islamism, the Middle East has yet to emerge from the shadow of jihad. But perhaps there is a caution in this narrative. In a striking parallel to events a century ago, the threat of far-reaching jihad — most recently in the name of the Islamic State — continues to play on the minds of Western leaders. But it does so far beyond any evidence of wide appeal among a vast majority of the globe’s Muslims. So Western leaders can learn from the experience of a century ago. When they overreact to the threat of religious war, they concede power to the very enemies they seek to overcome, with consequences impossible to predict.” Read the entire article here:

A War to End Jihad – NYTimes.com.

History News Network | What We now Know About the Birth of Israel Thanks to the Opening of British MI5 Archives

April 22, 2015April 22, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

This is an interesting interview with Bruce Hoffman, author of Anonymous Soldiers. Here is one of the questions he answers: “In the preface to Anonymous Soldiers, you ask the question, ‘does terrorism work?’ What are the circumstances and factors that enable some terrorist campaigns to succeed and others to fail based on the lessons from the Irgun and Lehi’s campaigns?” Read the entire interview here:

History News Network | What We now Know About the Birth of Israel Thanks to the Opening of British MI5 Archives.

“Satellite images show ISIS, other groups destroying archaeological sites.”

April 3, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse! Stephen H. Savage uses satellite images to assess the damage from not just ISIS but others.

Satellite images show ISIS, other groups destroying archaeological sites.

History News Network | John Bolton’s Love of Bombs

April 1, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

The historian Lawrence Davidson exposes the folly of John Bolton’s recent opinion piece in The New York Times advocating the bombing of Iran. Here’s an excerpt from his take down: “John Bolton’s op-ed to the New York Times is just a mess – a dangerous flight of fancy based on skewed opinions rather than hard evidence and facts. In what must have been a very weak moment while writing this piece, he actually admits that there is a “lack of palpable evidence” for his case. He then moves right ahead as if the absence of evidence and facts just do not matter.” Read more here:

History News Network | John Bolton’s Love of Bombs.

The Goals of the Islamic State: Hijrah, al-Haramayn and Hegemony |History News Network

March 30, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

A historian of Islamic history, Timothy R. Furnish, explains the goals of ISIS:

“Long-term, ISIS—as many breathlessly have reported—aspires to not just ruling all the Islamic portions of the Middle East, Europe and South/Central Asia, but Rome and points further west, including the United States. This may be a hookah-dream, but considering that the ideology—if not quite all the brutal activity—of ISIS has solid grounding in Salafism, both its Wahhabi and Deobandi (South Asian) versions, it’s something that should be taken seriously by non-Muslims.

It is the medium-term goals of ISIS that should most concern us. I submit that these primarily are two-fold: 1) to goad us—that is, the United States—into inserting ground troops into, particularly, Syria, as a means of fulfilling the hadith about the great apocalyptic battle near Dabiq; and 2) to take over Saudi Arabia, or at least to cause such regional instability that Riyadh’s regime fractures, and ISIS Toyotas ride triumphantly into al-Haramayn, the “two holy places” of Mecca and Medina.” Read his entire article at:

History News Network | The Goals of the Islamic State: Hijrah, al-Haramayn and Hegemony.

Sultan Murad IV (seventeenth century) and al Baghadadi

History News Network | Bombing Iran: What Would Happen If the Hawks Got Their Way?

March 12, 2015 / Debbie / Leave a comment

Hopefully, even the hawks would not be so stupid as to pursue the policy of bombing Iran! Besides the fact that bombing doesn’t work, Juan Cole points out, “Leaving behind a relatively stable Afghanistan, forestalling a second march of Taliban into Kabul, and ousting ISIL from Sunni Iraq and trying to put the country back together are stated US military and foreign policy goals. They are profoundly imperiled by an Iran strike.” Read the full article at:

History News Network | Bombing Iran: What Would Happen If the Hawks Got Their Way?

New IS video shows militants smashing ancient Iraq artifacts – Yahoo News

February 27, 2015 / Debbie / 1 Comment

I feel sick! Only a weak religion would feel threatened by a long dead culture. We must all speak out against this vile ideology that is only about death and destruction!

New IS video shows militants smashing ancient Iraq artifacts – Yahoo News.

Pro-Israeli Groups Continue their Assault on Academic Freedom

January 3, 2015 / Debbie / 1 Comment

Chip Gibbons reports that “some pro-Israel groups have now set their sights on a familiar target—Middle Eastern studies departments. A coalition of groups led by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and the AMCHA Initiative are leading a campaign to end federal funding for college Middle Eastern studies programs unless they adopt means to oversee and police the alleged ideological content of those programs.” If these groups get their way it would set a precedent for imposing ideological agendas by force in higher education. Knowledge does not advance through censorship, but through unfettered debate. If these groups disagree with certain claims about Israel they should engage in scholarly debate. Their agenda also threatens to undermine any hope for peace in the region. If we are to tackle the problem we need to face the situation honestly and JUSTLY. A one-sided perspective in which one group is completely innocent (Israelis) and the other is completely guilty (Palestinians) is not only not true, it will perpetuate the status quo of revenge/counter-revenge in the region.

Congress Under Pressure to Defund University Middle East Programs | Defending Dissent Foundation.