Rest in Peace, Queen Zenobia!
Seven years back in Tivoli, about 30 kilometers distance from Rome, my eyes were filled in tears once a friend of mine took me to the ruins of what historians say was Zenobia ‘s place after being defeated by the Roman Emperor Aurelian in the year 271 and taken prisoner to Rome and then to Tivoli. The smell, color, taste and grandeur of the Syrian history overwhelmed me; the Syrian 3-rd century Queen was reincarnated in every Syrian as a legend of steadfastness, struggle, Resistance, pride and honor.
Our Queen of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, cannot rest in peace and the Syrians are saddened and bereaved for hundreds of years for the Queen, who even dared to challenge the unchallenged when all ways did lead indeed to Rome! The Romans did bow in respect for Palmyra, its civilization and even did, according to different history references put the Queen in a cage made of pure gold!
Now, it is ISIS, daesh, the black death of the US, Neo-colonialism, ewes and their proxy satellites! Unfortunately, the civilized world of today has once more turned blind eyes and deaf ears to the people and states appeals for civilization and world heritage preservation. Unfortunately, those who have no history have tarnished destroyed and exploited the history of the founders of civilization! However, a history written in sacrifices, blood and martyrdom can never be cancelled by destruction of stones or statues!
Personally, it was indeed a lifetime press experience for me when I accompanied, as a journalist, H.E. President Bashar Assad and the First Lady in an official visit to Italy in 2002. The Presidential couple was given hero’s welcome as coming from the oldest continuously inhabited capital; the cradle of civilization and of Christianity, the land of history which gave the Roman Empire emperors, popes, artists, architects, and renowned intellectuals. Rome was excited to receive the man who went as a messenger of peace, fraternity and amity in reminiscent of Saint Paul and of all Syria’s great historic figures throughout ages.
During that historic visit President Al-Assad presented to His Holiness, the late Pope John Paul the Second, a unique copy of Quraa’n, the Holy book of Islam, the religion of ‘’justice, equality and of forgiveness’’, and surely not of the non-Islam of ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Wahabbism. According to President Assad’s then statements both ”civilizations were mingled together,” and where each, with its own features, gave birth to a “unique example of civilization integration” and joint interaction. President Assad spoke admiringly of the great Italian Civilization; among its pioneers were the Damascene Appolodore, emperors, popes, architects, engineers, writers and many others. I now- 13 years later- repeat what I wrote then to the Syria Times: ”
Had Zanobya, the Queen of Palmyra, spoken, she would have said that some of the past glory had been indeed restored through such a remarkable visit.”
Rest in Peace my Syrian Queen, Wahabbisim, darkness and ignorance can in way overrun morality, light, civilization, given the established reality of the Resistance Axis, and the wise worldwide including Irina Bokova, the UNESCO director-general, who said that any destruction to Palmyra would be “not just a war crime, but an enormous loss to humanity”, and EU Foreign Policy Chief, Federica Mogherini, who underscored that Islamic State “mass killings and deliberate destruction of archaeological and cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq amount to a war crime according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” asserting that Palmyra is ”a symbol of Syria’s rich cultural heritage and has been a crossroad of civilization throughout history.”
Dr. Mohammad Abdo Al-Ibrahim
alibrahim56@hotmail.com