Stop Co-opting Palmyra as a Symbol of Tolerance

By all means, reconstruct lost ruins. But remembrance takes more than a 3D printer. It requires effort and honesty. We are better than Isis because we can recognise and address complex, sometimes uncomfortable truths about our past and present – not because we are the heirs to an unbroken line of civilised thinking. And we are displaying a copy of the destroyed arch of Palmyra in our cities not because it carries an ancient message that validates our cause, but because of our own hard-won, modern commitment to tolerance.