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Why it's all right to be more horrified by the razing of Palmyra than mass murder Why it's all right to be more horrified by the razing of Palmyra than mass murder
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In recent days, Isis has committed two atrocities in the Syrian city of Palmyra. First, it beheaded Khaled al-Asaad, the 82-year-old retired chief archaeologist of the city, before mutilating his body. Then it blew up the ancient temple of Baal Shamin, built in AD17.In recent days, Isis has committed two atrocities in the Syrian city of Palmyra. First, it beheaded Khaled al-Asaad, the 82-year-old retired chief archaeologist of the city, before mutilating his body. Then it blew up the ancient temple of Baal Shamin, built in AD17.
These are both despicable acts. But might it not also seem repugnant that judging by press and social media reaction many of us find the destruction of a stone building at least as shocking as the decapitation of a human being? We know that people matter much more than things, and yet it seems we can be more moved by cultural vandalism than cold-blooded murder.These are both despicable acts. But might it not also seem repugnant that judging by press and social media reaction many of us find the destruction of a stone building at least as shocking as the decapitation of a human being? We know that people matter much more than things, and yet it seems we can be more moved by cultural vandalism than cold-blooded murder.
Related: Isis 'blows up temple dating back to 17AD' in PalmyraRelated: Isis 'blows up temple dating back to 17AD' in Palmyra
A form of compassion fatigue might partly explain this. The relentless news about people being brutally killed by Isis can be numbing, and with good reason. If we truly stopped to think about what each such death meant for victims and their families we would surely become overwhelmed by despair. If empathy had no natural limit, then neither would our sorrows.A form of compassion fatigue might partly explain this. The relentless news about people being brutally killed by Isis can be numbing, and with good reason. If we truly stopped to think about what each such death meant for victims and their families we would surely become overwhelmed by despair. If empathy had no natural limit, then neither would our sorrows.
But I don’t think this gets to the heart of why the razing of the temple rightly matters so much to us, and why such concerns can be as powerful as the ones we have for individual lives.But I don’t think this gets to the heart of why the razing of the temple rightly matters so much to us, and why such concerns can be as powerful as the ones we have for individual lives.
Caring about humanity is about more than wanting as many hearts to keep beating as possible. What matters is not just how many people live, but how we live. Throughout history, people have made the choice to prefer death over survival at too high a price. As the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata said, “It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”Caring about humanity is about more than wanting as many hearts to keep beating as possible. What matters is not just how many people live, but how we live. Throughout history, people have made the choice to prefer death over survival at too high a price. As the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata said, “It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”
Others have chosen to leave the world with what they value intact rather than stay alive to see it destroyed. This might have been the case with Khaled al-Asaad, who reportedly refused to lead Isis militants to Palmyra’s relics. If al-Asaad believed Palmyra’s heritage mattered more than his own life, then we are not so monstrous if we find our own reactions imply we feel the same.Others have chosen to leave the world with what they value intact rather than stay alive to see it destroyed. This might have been the case with Khaled al-Asaad, who reportedly refused to lead Isis militants to Palmyra’s relics. If al-Asaad believed Palmyra’s heritage mattered more than his own life, then we are not so monstrous if we find our own reactions imply we feel the same.
Related: Beheading of Khaled al-Asaad, keeper of Palmyra, unites Syria in condemnationRelated: Beheading of Khaled al-Asaad, keeper of Palmyra, unites Syria in condemnation
If certain ideals are worth dying for, that means it can even be worth entering into a conflict that is going to leave more people dead than staying at home would have done. That is why body counts are always too crude a measure of the justness of a war. Would it have been better, for example, to have sued for peace with Hitler in 1939 and saved the lives of the 60 million who died in the second world war, if the price for that was to allow the extermination of a lesser number of Jews, homosexuals, Romanies and other persecuted minorities? The Third Reich was a stain on humanity and removing it was more important than minimising the total number of global dead. The dignity of dying in a good cause can be preferable to allowing the indignity of people being treated as sub-human.If certain ideals are worth dying for, that means it can even be worth entering into a conflict that is going to leave more people dead than staying at home would have done. That is why body counts are always too crude a measure of the justness of a war. Would it have been better, for example, to have sued for peace with Hitler in 1939 and saved the lives of the 60 million who died in the second world war, if the price for that was to allow the extermination of a lesser number of Jews, homosexuals, Romanies and other persecuted minorities? The Third Reich was a stain on humanity and removing it was more important than minimising the total number of global dead. The dignity of dying in a good cause can be preferable to allowing the indignity of people being treated as sub-human.
Caring about how people live also means caring about those aspects of human culture that speak to more than our needs for food, shelter and good health. It involves recognising that that there are human achievements that transcend our own lives and our own generations. We come and go, but we are survived by the fruits of our peers and those who came before us. There is a humility in seeing, as Rick did in Casablanca, that the problems of a few “little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world”. Caring about how people live also means caring about those aspects of human culture that speak to more than our needs for food, shelter and good health. It involves recognising that there are human achievements that transcend our own lives and our own generations. We come and go, but we are survived by the fruits of our peers and those who came before us. There is a humility in seeing, as Rick did in Casablanca, that the problems of a few “little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world”.
When Isis destroys ancient sites it is not just attacking buildings, it is attacking the values their preservation represents, such as a recognition of the plurality of cultures that precede and surround us, as well as a respect for the achievements of past generations and a sense that we are custodians for the generations to follow. The destruction of the Temple of Baal Shamin is a brutally shocking sign that this is an organisation that has no respect for the diverse history and culture of civilisation but seeks instead to erase everything except what it holds dear. It shows that even when Isis does not kill, it doesn’t let people live as they legitimately desire to do, which is a particular kind of terror of its own.When Isis destroys ancient sites it is not just attacking buildings, it is attacking the values their preservation represents, such as a recognition of the plurality of cultures that precede and surround us, as well as a respect for the achievements of past generations and a sense that we are custodians for the generations to follow. The destruction of the Temple of Baal Shamin is a brutally shocking sign that this is an organisation that has no respect for the diverse history and culture of civilisation but seeks instead to erase everything except what it holds dear. It shows that even when Isis does not kill, it doesn’t let people live as they legitimately desire to do, which is a particular kind of terror of its own.
The destruction of people and places might appear to be quite different, but the distinction is not as neat as it first seems. You can harm people in many ways, and targeting their bodies is only one. “Part of me died today,” tweeted the Pakistan-born writer Tarek Fateh in response to the demolition in Palmyra. Sentiments like these are more than merely metaphorical. There is a literal sense in which we are not just atomised animals but minds who are connected to others in different times and places by compassion, history and values. The destruction of historical sites is an assault on this aspect of our humanity.The destruction of people and places might appear to be quite different, but the distinction is not as neat as it first seems. You can harm people in many ways, and targeting their bodies is only one. “Part of me died today,” tweeted the Pakistan-born writer Tarek Fateh in response to the demolition in Palmyra. Sentiments like these are more than merely metaphorical. There is a literal sense in which we are not just atomised animals but minds who are connected to others in different times and places by compassion, history and values. The destruction of historical sites is an assault on this aspect of our humanity.
I’m not suggesting that we should prioritise the preservation of artefacts over the saving of human lives. If I had to choose, I’m sure I’d pull a person from a burning building before a Picasso. But that does not mean to care about the destruction of our heritage is to care about things more than we do people. Rather, it is to care about people as more than just biological things.I’m not suggesting that we should prioritise the preservation of artefacts over the saving of human lives. If I had to choose, I’m sure I’d pull a person from a burning building before a Picasso. But that does not mean to care about the destruction of our heritage is to care about things more than we do people. Rather, it is to care about people as more than just biological things.