“They waged a war on art and culture, so I decided to fight them with art.”
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After ISIS captured the city of Mosul two years ago, they recorded a video of themselves destroying ancient artifacts. These historical pieces were on display at the museum in Mosul, but the militants saw them as “idols” that needed to be destroyed.
In the video they describe the reasoning behind their actions. “These antiquities and idols behind me were from people in past centuries and were worshiped instead of God. When God Almighty orders us to destroy these statues, idols and antiquities, we must do it, even if they’re worth billions of dollars.”
Besides destroying pagan artifacts and statues, ISIS has also annihilated Christian monasteries, churches and other places at odds with their ideology.
Many saw the incident in Mosul as a cultural tragedy, especially since the museum was in possession of original artifacts that were thousands of years old.
When the video was released to the public, one Assyrian Christian teenager was shocked by what he saw and knew he had to do something. Seventeen-year-old Nenous Thabit was personally offended by the actions of ISIS and saw what they did as an attack on the culture of his ancestors. However, instead of picking up a rock to throw at the militants, Thabit picked up a rock and started to sculpt.
He told CNN, “They waged a war on art and culture, so I decided to fight them with art.”
Read more: 12 Treasures of Antiquity Destroyed in the Middle East since 2001
