ISIS – The Speaker News Journal

3D Printing Against Daesh: “We Will Recreate What ISIS Destroyed”

July 14, 2017June 27, 2017 by Pauline Schnoebelen

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3D technology comes to the rescue after the destruction of several world cultural treasures by the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

According to the United Nations, ISIS has destroyed and damaged 200 world heritage sites along with hundreds of statues and artefacts since 2014.

ISIS’ plan is simple. It is about erasing all traces of previous cultures to establish their own and take advantage of the media coverage following massing destructions of historic sites to grab the world’s attention. In addition, this cultural cleaning is a way for Daesh to finance their activities by selling to dealers and private collectors.

Yet those lost treasures that some call “blood artifacts” may not be lost forever.

Through her digital fabrication and 3D printing project “Material Speculation : ISIS”, Iranian artist and activist Morehshin Allahyari chose to focus on the reconstruction of selected artifacts and statues destroyed by ISIS in Iraq in 2015.

In addition, to repair history and memory, each 3D printed object comprises a flash drive and a memory card. The data in these flash drives contain materials: maps, images, videos and pdf files on the destroyed artifacts and sites. They were gathered thanks to a collaboration with different archeologists and historians, including and museum staff.

“Like time capsules, each object is sealed and kept for future civilizations.”
– Morehshin Allahyari

Just like Murehshin Allahyari artifacts, Palmyra has suffered numerous act of vandalism. The Syrian desert city known as the Venice of the Sands lost the triumphal arch from 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel.

Devastated, many archaeologists talked restoration and reconstruction such as American lawyer/archaeologist Roger Michel. Indeed, as the founder of Oxford’s Institute for Digital Archaeology, Michel has built a 3D facsimile arch from Palmyra’s destroyed Temple of Bel.

Thanks to 3D technology, Pamlyra’s rose again in London’s Trafalgar Square last April to coincide with world heritage week. It should then travel on to Times Square in New York City.

This 3D replica of the 15-meters arch that formed the temple’s entrance is a gesture of defiance against ISIS’ desire to erase cultural and historical evidence.

“My intention is to show Islamic State that anything they can blow up we can rebuild exactly as it was before, and rebuild it again and again. We will use technology to disempower ISIS.” Roger Michel

Moving for some or uncanny for others, this incredible public display of 3D reconstruction is the proof that new technology can restore entire parts of 20th-century historical sites. Although out of their original context and site, 3D monuments or artefacts might still conserve their precious sense of place and craftsmanship, thus preserving everybody’s heritage.

By Pauline Schnoebelen

Iran’s Capital – Bombing Kills 13

February 6, 2021February 6, 2017 by The Speaker Editors

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ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing, but they claim lots of attacks.

Gunmen, some reportedly dressed as women, but also wearing suicide vests, attacked the Tehran parliament building with guns. A standoff with police lasted hours.

6 attackers were killed, 5 arrested.

If ISIS was indeed responsible, it would be the first time their Sunni extremist group has successfully attacked Shia Iran, although they have been trying, reportedly. It is difficult for Sunni extremists to attack Iran because Iran is around 90% Shia, and Tehran is around 95% Shia, so there is not much of a reservoir of support for themthere.

ISIS would see an attack on Iran as a huge symbolic victory, according to analysts, as ISIS is against Iran like it’s against the U.S.

Iran blamed Saudi Arabia for the attack and vowed retaliation. The longstanding conflict between Middle East countries continues.

Julian Assange Shares Thoughts And Information On Turkey And ISIS

August 3, 2016December 10, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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ISIS will be eliminated in about six months, Assange predicted, who blamed both Russia and Turkey for the jet downing last month

Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange spoke via live video stream on a panel on security and surveillance featuring terrorism expert Philip Giraldi, political activist Raymond McGovern, and strategic analyst Gregory Copley Thursday. At the end of the discussion, hosted by broadcast organization Russia Today, Assange commented on the recent developments in the Middle East. Assange criticized Russia for its action in the region, as well as its “severe incompetence” with regards to its jet being shot down by Turkey in November. He also made predictions about the end of ISIS as a significant power, and hinted at new information he had received about the last Turkish election and how it may relate to the jet incident.

“Northern Turkey can be looked at as ‘Novo Turkey,'” said Assange. “It’s a similar situation to which Russia was dealing with in the Ukraine.”

“And that if we imagine a situation where let’s say the United Kingdom came in and bombed rebels in eastern Ukraine in support of western Ukraine — Russian-backed rebels — what would the Russian response be? Would it be to shoot down those planes if it could find a technical excuse to do so?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn4IvHgb7Qk

“And I think the answer is ‘Yes,’ that the domestic nationalist imperative would be to do that.”

Assange continued to criticize Russian actions or lack of actions preceding the downing of its jet along the Turkish border.

“And Turkey send out many warnings. Sorry, it sent out several warnings to Russia in the preceding week.”

Assange began to speak of information relating to the last Turkish election, and that policy established at that time had a part in the jet’s being shot down.

“Now there is some other information that has arisen which what perhaps occurred was a plan that was set in train immediately before the election — the Turkish election, which Erdogan won. And that was a national imperative to win that election.

“And rules of engagement were set up such that if there was a technical violation — even for a second — of Turkish airspace or it could be suggested that there was, this would be a plan to ensure winning that election. And those rules of engagement were not taken down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyEuc4PjVQk

“I’m not sure what the result is but you can see that it’s quite a complex situation, that we don’t have time to go into, but Turkey has historical interest in northern Syria. It has also used the Kurds to create a form of nationalism in Turkey. It is going to continue to push to have various forms of control of at least northern Syria, and that’s a conflict with many different actors that I don’t see going anywhere nice. It’s impossible to satisfy all those actors at once.

“And I really think that while shooting down Russia’s jet was not justified, we have to pause and consider what is perhaps a severe incompetence of Russian intelligence services. Severe incompetence in relation to Ukraine, and severe incompetence in relation to Turkey, because there were plenty of warning signals being given off by the Turks. Why won’t those warning signals properly understood?”

Assange also made predictions about the impending end of ISIS as a significant power. ISIS would be “almost completely debilitated as a state” in about six months time, said Assange, and will return to being a guerilla group.

The U.S., Russia, Iran and other groups which had been militarily active against ISIS would then remain in the region, Assange believed, and continue other activities.

By James Haleavy

World Terrorist Group Kill Numbers Ranked

January 26, 2021November 19, 2015 by The Speaker Editors

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According to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index by the Institute for Economics and Peace, five Islamic groups topped the list of the deadliest forces on earth deemed “terrorist.”

Islamic group Boko Haram, which operates mainly in Nigeria, but also in Cameroon and Chad, killed the most people in 2014: 7,512 — up 300 percent from 2013.

Islamic group Islamic State killed slightly less — 6,073 — in its Middle East conquests in 2014.

Islamic group Taliban took 3,477 lives the same year in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Islamic group Fulani Militants killed 1,229 in the Central African Republic, up from less than one hundred in 2013.

Islamic group Al-Shabaab — a group affiliated with al-Qa’ida — killed 1,021 people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia in 2014.

The Institute for Economics and Peace noted a rise in militant attacks globally — up 80 percent in one year and up 900 percent since 2000. In 2014 there were a total 32,658 deaths due to militancy, compared with 2000’s 3,329.

Terrorist attacks were up everywhere last year. While 80 percent of deaths took place in five countries — Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria — countries in which over 500 terrorist attacks took place within the year rose 120 percent. Sixty-seven countries experienced at least one terrorist attack resulting in death in 2014.

Many Western countries experienced terrorist attacks in 2014, including Canada, France, Austria, Australia and Belgium, but most of these killings were ascribed in the report to “lone wolf” attacks — contrasted against “Islamic fundamentalism.” The group cited right wing extremism, nationalism, anti-government elements, and other types of of political extremism and supremacism for these attacks. However, attacks numbers were relatively low in Western countries and all countries without an ongoing armed conflict.

Missing South Korean teen training with IS

September 1, 2015February 25, 2015 by EJ Monica Kim

Missing South Korean teen expressed desire to join IS on social media

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SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean teenager who disappeared near the Syrian border in Turkey last month has been found to be receiving training from the Islamic State (IS), South Korea’s spy agency said Tuesday.

The head of the National Intelligent Service (NIS), Byung-kee Lee reported during a closed-door parliamentary meeting that the 18-year-old, surnamed Kim, officially became the first Korean to join IS. Lee, however, added that his whereabouts are still unknown.

According to a senior official, although the spy agency sent a message to the Muslim militant group to let him return to his parents, the demand was rejected.

Police have concluded that Kim has not gone missing, but attempted to smuggle himself into Syria, based on the examination of his social media and computer records.

Kim’s mother told Yonhap News Agency that she has not heard from him since he left for Turkey in January. “I just hope that my son comes back home safely as soon as possible,” she said.

As more and more people started to follow his Twitter account after the news broke out, the South Korean government expressed worry about the possibility that young people might imitate Kim’s behavior. Fortunately, his Twitter account has been suspended since Feb. 4, but, at the same time, the deactivation could hamper the investigation of Kim’s recent and future situation.

Meanwhile, three missing British teenagers are also believed to be heading to Syria via Turkey, and one of the girls indicated her support for IS on her Twitter profile, as Kim did.

Foreign members who join IS will get training from the organization, including military exercises, Islamic doctrines and Arabic language class for more than one month.

Who is Kim?

The 18-year-old was a home-schooled student since he dropped out of middle school due to bullying. Kim was preparing for a qualification exam as a high school graduate when he disappeared with a man in a black car in Kilis near Syrian border with Turkey.

By EJ Monica Kim

Source

Yonhap News

CNN

Herald Media