Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi stands trial before the International Criminal Court at the Hague. He stands accused of the destruction of Mali's religious monuments in Timbuktu. He pleads guilty and expresses regret. For the first time, the Shariah and the instrumentalization of the Quran are on trial in the person of Al Mahdi. The prosecutor considers this J'accuse as historic because it is about the destruction of collective identity. In doing so, she lifts the taboo on other similar nihilistic destructions in Afghanistan, Syria and the list grows every day.
Humans are twice victimized, in their own lives and in their memory. The international community has been for too long at fault in dealing with either. The refugees multiply, Syria sinks further into Dante's deeper circles of hell and all traces of former collective memory and continuity are no match for the hatred of Jihadists, and some others! Every small step to reverse the advance of barbarism helps a little...at least culture has its day in court.
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