VERSION|0.5.1|SUBJECT|Mona Siddiqui, professor of Islamic studies, New College, University of Edinburgh   |CONTENT|[b]Rating[/b] 1 out of 5 (Not platitudinous)

[url=http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap130426.html][img=images/2013/04/pic130426.jpg popup=false float=right][/url]The ancient minaret of one of Aleppo's most beautiful mosques [url=http://www.channel4.com/news/syria-mosque-aleppo-destroyed-great-umayyad-minaret]has been destroyed[/url]. It joins the destruction of Roman and Crusader remains in Palmyra.

This matters less than the loss of 70,000 lives and untold ruin for many more. Yet this loss of cultural and artistic artefacts means the loss of part of a nation's shared history.

Contrast this with a recent break I took in Istanbul. Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque are freely visited by tourists. I wonder if these extraordinary sites can only be truly appreciated when they are not being blown up, in a country being ripped apart by civil war?

As people across the Islamic world shout "God is great," I wonder what type of god they have created that seeks to solve their problems with violence. The destruction of the minaret is a metaphor for the much wider destruction of Syria.

[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0187kx4]Listen/Read[/url]|CATEGORIES|75,8,1|IP-ADDRESS|94.168.119.214|DATE|1366961805|CREATEDBY|admin
