One conundrum about ISIL's destruction of temples in Palmyra is why the global public is not similarly outraged by the beheadings and bloodshed the group continues to inflict on people under its control. Ancient buildings, after all, can be rebuilt but the human victims get no such second chance.
Ostensibly, the group objects to the historic site because they predate Islam. Leaving aside ISIL’s twisted misinterpretation of the message of Islam on this and many other issues, there is a more sinister strategy at play.
Part of it is the publicity value it knows it will get for destroying a world heritage site, which is more than from its ongoing daily bloodshed. But another factor is that Palmyra is a site about which Syrians across all sectarian divisions feel immense national pride because it shows their civilisation dates back 4,000 years. Destroying temples in Palmyra is not just about blowing up buildings, but about destroying Syria’s identity as a country.
