When history is worth as much as human life itself
T WAS a door that was supposed to stay shut until the end of time. But when the end came early in 2012 it took a bunch of pick-axewielding Islamist thugs just minutes to undo 500 years of history.
The trial of Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi this week for destroying 14 mausoleums and attacking the entrance to the 15th-century Sidi Yahia mosque in the Malian city of Timbuktu marked a first for the International Criminal Court.
It was the first time anyone has ever been tried at The Hague for a war crime solely because they destroyed historic artefacts.
The ICC has its faults. Proceedings take place slower than an iceberg moving out of the way of the Titanic, and there is truth to accusations that it spends a disproportionate amount of time chasing African despots and not wealthier and more powerful leaders.
Yet the trial of Al-Mahdi, in which he pled guilty and now faces up to 11 years in prison, can not be dismissed as a case of Western imperialism or jurisdictional overreach.
Who were the victims? Malians. Who wanted Al-Mahdi to face justice? Malians. In fact, if it weren’t for the efforts of locals, who risked their lives to smuggle out ancient manuscripts under the noses of the jihadists, the cultural devastation would have been far greater.
For these weren’t just pretty pictures on a wall to glance at, they were part of the community’s living, breathing history. Malians told the court how they felt “shame” at the desecration of their saints and ancestors. Cultural loss can’t be measured in the same way as human lives or other atrocities inflicted on p e o p l e d u r i n g war t i me, b u t that doesn’t mean its impact isn’t as keenly felt by victims, or that perpetrators shouldn’t be held to account.
Islamic State probably doesn’t concern itself too much with the niceties of international law. Given the chance, it would probably repeat the destruction of the “idolatrous” 2,000-year-old city of Palmyra in Syria, but long after the terror group has become a footnote in history, what will be left of its own culture? Probably nothing save for a few video clips of beheadings.
The jihadists don’t have any new ideas themselves so the old ones, hijacked from diverse and pluralistic Islamic societies, have to be manipulated to fit their version of history. When something doesn’t fit they tear it down.
IS isn’t the first to try to rewrite history and probably won’t be the last. But at least a statement has been made this week: that a society is more than just a sum of its parts and that we value our history as much, if not more, than life itself. Khaled al-Asaad, the 82-yearold overseer of antiquities in Palmyra, who was beheaded by IS militants because he refused to tell them where he had hidden valuable artefacts, certainly thought so.
Rashid Razaq
ITALIANS could do with some good news, and none more so than the country’s teenagers, who face record unemployment rates and dismal job prospects. However, every 18-year-old will soon be in line for a 500 euro “culture bonus” to spend on anything from theatre and concert tickets to visiting museums and buying books.
Obviously there needs to be some small print to stop some from blowing it all at a “culturally enriching” music festival, but it’s a smart move that we would do well to imitate. Italian PM Matteo Renzi said he wants youngsters to appreciate their cultural heritage and believes it could help in the fight against terrorism. That’s a big aspiration, but even if it only gets kids off their smartphones and into an exhibition for a few hours, the scheme will be a success.