The U.S. art market for stolen antiquities from Yemen must be shut down

By Deborah Lehr and
Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak
Washington Post
January 1 at 10:32 AM
Deborah Lehr is founder and chair of the Antiquities Coalition. Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak is Yemen’s ambassador to the United States and permanent representative of Yemen to the United Nations.

Historically, Yemen was a meeting ground for some of the earliest contacts and trade between East and West and a crossroads of the ancient incense and spice routes. As home to the legendary Queen of Sheba, stories about the treasures to be found in Yemen’s markets and the independence of its people were passed across generations, along with a famed tradition of silver design. Much of this rich history survived for millennia, as Yemen is home to four UNESCO World Heritage Sites and national museums that house priceless artifacts. While media coverage has closely followed the fighting around some of these historic places and collections, it has sadly ignored that this history is being stripped for sale to foreign buyers.

Yemen has warned the United Nations and the world of this illicit trade, presenting evidence that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants and Houthi rebels are taking a page from the Islamic State playbook by arming their cause with the plunder and sale of Yemen’s ancient treasures. Three major museums — the Taiz National Museum, the Aden National Museum and the National Museum of Zinjibar — have been pillaged and largely cleared of their collections. International experts have corroborated these reports, including archaeologists on the ground, the International Council of Museums and the U.N. Panel of Experts on Yemen.

There is good reason to believe that the United States is a destination for pillaged Yemeni artifacts, because it remains the largest art market in the world...Despite Washington’s growing awareness of the terrorist financing threat from cultural racketeering, U.S. markets remain wide open to conflict antiquities from Yemen. In other countries, the State Department has used available diplomatic tools to negotiate bilateral agreements to close U.S. markets to illegally imported antiquities. Congress has also taken legislative action to sanction efforts to import illicit pieces from Iraq and Syria. But U.S. inaction in Yemen raises the likelihood that American collectors and institutions are helping sustain the country’s violent conflict through apparently legal purchases of stolen artifacts.

More here
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-us-art-market-for-stolen-antiquities-from-yemen-must-be-shut-down/2019/01/01/c3df44aa-db9d-11e8-85df-7a6b4d25cfbb_story.html