Targeting Cultural Sites is a War Crime
On behalf of more than 50,000 scholars and researchers in the humanities and social sciences, our scholarly and professional societies call upon people throughout the US and, indeed, around the world to remind the President of the United States that targeting cultural sites for military activity is a war crime except under the narrowest of circumstances, and cannot be justified under any circumstances.
The President has threatened via Twitter to target 52 sites in Iran, including cultural sites, if Iran retaliates for the assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, and he has reiterated that such an action is appropriate even after members of his administration attempted to express restraint. Whatever other efforts are underway to de-escalate hostilities and pursue diplomacy, the Administration must be dissuaded from continuing to threaten cultural sites and civilians.
Cultural sites at risk of damage or destruction by military activity are irreplaceable and result in a loss to civilization, history, and human understanding. The US Department of Defense has gone to extraordinary lengths to coordinate with knowledgeable experts over the past two decades to protect cultural sites in the region. This apparent reversal of strategy is misguided, short-sighted, and will only serve to enrage the Iranian people, for whom the President himself has professed his personal admiration.
Destruction of cultural sites, like the targeting of civilians and noncombatants, must never be considered as a military objective. Please let the administration know how you feel about this issue, and let your Congressional delegation know as well using the form embedded at the bottom of this page.
American Anthropological Association
American Folklore Society
American Philosophical Association
American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies
Archaeological Institute of America
Bibliographical Society of America
Coalition for American Heritage
Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Community
Executive Committee of the Association for Jewish Studies
Heritage Watch International
Historians of Islamic Art Association
Medieval Academy of America
Middle East Studies Association
Modern Language Association
Organization of American Historians
Penn Cultural Heritage Center, University of Pennsylvania
Rhetoric Society of America
Society for American Archaeology
Society for Applied Anthropology
Society of Architectural Historians
Society of Biblical Literature
Society for California Archaeology
Society for Cinema and Media Studies
Society for Classical Studies
