Opinion // ISIS Commits Cultural Genocide

Militants sever the ties that connect the region to the world—and history by Amy E. Schwartz In 2010, Bonnie Burnham, president of the World Monuments Fund, paid a visit to historic Aleppo, Syria to see the triumphant conclusion of a 10-year restoration and conservation of the historic citadel.  “Aleppo was bursting with optimism,” she recalled in New York recently at a press conference to highlight the ghastly cultural destruction that, along with human carnage, has overtaken the region since. “Palaces were being reopened as luxury hotels. Tour operators were signing contracts with international vendors, caterers, shopping centers. “For now,” she added, stating the obvious, “those dreams are on hold.” Destruction of cultural heritage—of which the obliteration of Aleppo’s old city, minaret and Great Mosque since 2012 is only one tragic example—has been a shocking subtext of the violence crashing over Syria...

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