×
$75 million pledged to protect heritage sites in war zones
AP News | March 20, 2017

$75 million pledged to protect heritage sites in war zones
PARIS (AP) — World donors pledged more than $75 million Monday to an historic UNESCO-backed alliance to protect cultural heritage sites threatened by war and the wave of ideological-driven destruction carried out by Islamic State group militants.

French President Francois Hollande, speaking at a donors' conference in Paris' Louvre Museum, passionately called on more countries to contribute to the newly-created heritage alliance and help push it past its "ambitious" $100 million goal.

"At Bamiyan, Mosul, Palmyra, Timbuktu and elsewhere, fanatics have engaged in trafficking, looting and the destruction of cultural heritage, adding to the persecution of populations," Hollande said.

A number of cultural artifacts and heritage sites have fallen victim to the Islamic State group. In 2015, the ancient Syrian ruins of Palmyra were seized by militants who then destroyed the UNESCO heritage site's famed temples of Bel and Baalshamin. IS militants raided Iraq's Mosul museum claiming its pre-Islamic statues were against Islam. The 13th-century B.C. Assyrian city of Nimrud was hit with bombs and bulldozers.


Poll: As Gorsuch Hearings Kick Off, Majority of Americans Can't Name a Single SCOTUS Justice
In coordination with UNESCO, the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH) aims to prevent heritage site destruction, fight trafficking of stolen artifacts and pay for restoration. But it also seeks to create a global network of storage and safeguarding sites.

"The first emergency is Iraq. We will need to carry out a precise inventory of the damages to monuments, museums and libraries. But there are other critical situations. Mali, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria," he added.

Hollande suggested Monday that a Group of Seven culture ministers meeting in Florence next week could be used to get further donations.

Six countries and one philanthropist pledged a total of $75.5 million at Monday conference, which was held in an ancient Middle Eastern sculpture-clad wing of the Louvre.

France pledged the most at $30 million, with support forthcoming from Arab countries — including Saudi Arabia ($20 million), the United Arab Emirates ($15 million), Kuwait ($5 million) and Morocco ($1.5 million.)

Luxembourg pledged $3 million, and private donor Thomas Kaplan promised $1 million.

Switzerland pledged a further $8 million in operational and administrative costs to help set up the fund's first headquarters in Geneva.

Italy, meanwhile, said it would provide an ALIPH task force that includes military personnel and conservation experts.

Germany, China and Mexico said they would help by storing the heritage objects threatened by war in national museums, and lobby countries to do the same.

The first concrete steps to creating ALIPH came about in a meeting between Hollande and Abu Dhabi's powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in the Emirati capital in December.

"This achievement is truly historic," said Mohamed Al Mubarak, the crown prince's special representative.

"Since the Abu Dhabi declaration was signed in December 2016, the efforts to transform an idea into a concrete action have been extraordinary.... This effort has happened and will not be forgotten."

Daily mail.com

Nice idea, but if they raise 100 million, maybe 5 million will go to the actual cause... Just like the Clinton fund for Haiti, which still hasn't received any money yet....

I certainly hope so..and what happened to Haiti because of political mix issues was tragic enough and yes I agree the financial factor determined what seemed to be irreplaceable at that point and full of doubt when all of this took course.

How about raising the money to save the innocent people and children, after all, without them who will look at these sites?

valid point right there it is very sad and somebody needs to put a Blame on others instead of having a reaction and do something about it.

There is a documentary by hubert sauper called 'we come as friends '
It's about how the west end far east. China, Russia etc have raped poor countries of various minerals etc with no regards to the people who live there, it's hard watching but a big eye opener!
Then they wonder why these countries fail!

"France pledged the most at $30 million, with support forthcoming from Arab countries — including Saudi Arabia ($20 million), the United Arab Emirates ($15 million), Kuwait ($5 million) and Morocco ($1.5 million.)"


the richest world leaders -


13. Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, $350 million

Emir of Kuwait
Though he's an honorary trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he does not seem to like freedom of expression, having enacted some pretty bad restrictions around the Kuwaiti press.


7. Mohammed VI, $2.5 billion

King of Morocco
This cherubic king, who is also tight with the Brazilian prime minister, is one of Morocco's leading businessmen! The Wikileaks cables that dropped a few years ago did not paint the relationship between the king's business and the king's reign.



5. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, $4 billion

Prime Minster of the United Arab Emirates
Using that sweet, sweet oil money, this guy turned Dubai into the weird Middle Eastern Vegas it is today. He owns 99.6 percent of the holding company that owns everything, so he's doing quite well. He has 23 "officially acknowledged" children and his best known "junior wife"—this is a real thing—was King Hussein of Jordan's daughter. He has one hell of a yacht, called "Dubai."


4. Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, $15 billion

President of the United Arab Emirates
As "president," Khalifa's most impressive is probably getting the Wikipedia editors to have his philanthropic donations ($460 million) in the first paragraph. We remember him for his $622 million megayacht, but hey, sometimes people like to treat themselves?



3. Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, $18 billion

King of Saudi Arabia
Though he's pushing 80, he hasn't been king for long because his half-brother just died. As a member of the House of Saud, all his cash comes from oil. He is expected to continue his brother's poor human rights record.


if any of these muslims cared, why do they any donations? ...


source

It is what it is.. what is your opinion on this, Moe?

I love and respect history, but if you watch the video where isis is destroying a sculpture in a museum, the sculpture was a duplicate... It was made of plaster, which was invented 1000's of years later.... The original was carved from Stone, and the curators of the museums took all the important stuff out before the cities fell to isis..

But anytime I hear rich calling for donations, I automatically think it's a scam...

yeah right what they gonna do post military equipment and personnel around
them sounds like a great con


hey can i keep some of that priceless stuff in my garage for you i am sure
you will get it back really i am

Nato Bases and isis training camps, side by side, in the land Washington and Brussels tore from Christian Serbia, to hand to Islamist terrorists.Where, Kosovo,American servicemen within walking distance of isis, To find out more, look up, APF on Kosovo, Chilling, and eye opening.