Monuments matter
▻http://mondediplo.com/blogs/monuments-matter
It was 2010, the summer before protests erupted in Dera’a. In Palmyra — a UNESCO-ranked world heritage site set in its own desert oasis — the ancient stones glowed gold in the setting sun. Visitors, some international, most Syrian, wandered among the ruins, photographing themselves in front of the 3rd-century monumental arch. Just beyond, boys from the nearby town of Tadmur kicked a football about in the sand, with the 17th-century Qala’at Ibn Maan hilltop castle behind them. But today, just like in the rest of Syria, sites such as Palmyra are suffering, caught up within the fighting which has seen a country turn against itself.