It did not take the Taliban long.
On Sept. 16, 2021, the Taliban took a bulldozer to a centuries-old fort whose defenders once wounded the 14th-century warrior Timur, earning him the nickname Timur the Lame or, in its Anglicized form, Tamerlane. While Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad repeatedly assured that the Taliban had changed, the Taliban appears the same group that, in 2001, destroyed the famous 6th-century Bamiyan Buddhas that, until the Taliban dynamited them, were a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Taliban are not alone in seeking to erase history and any remnants of past plurality. Palestinians at the Temple Mount have deliberately ruined archaeological sites and dumped ancient artifacts in trash dumps. Beginning in 1949, Communist China systematically destroyed more than 6,000 monasteries and much of Tibet’s cultural heritage. They are now implementing the same plan to erase Uyghur heritage.
Why do autocratic regimes destroy cultural heritage? Taliban founder Mullah Omar justified such destruction in Islamic prohibitions against idolatry. This, of course, ignores that Afghanistan’s pre-Islamic heritage survived 1,400 years of Islamic dynasties more literate and with far deeper theological knowledge than Omar. It also ignores the pre-Islamic origins of the Kaaba in Mecca, around which Muslims circumambulate. By Omar’s standards, this should be dynamited.
While autocrats might use Islam to justify their intolerance, this abuses religion. Rather, a greater cynicism is at play: In Afghanistan, the Taliban seek systematically to erase Afghanistan’s cultural heritage. They may do so at the behest of Pakistani officials who fear Pashtun nationalism and wish to erase the legacy of various Afghan dynasties as well as the depth of its history. By eliminating Afghan heritage, Pakistan can also justify its own future land grabs and mitigate its own lack of self-confidence as a nation.
The same holds true in Jerusalem, where a generation of Palestinian scholars and activists have sought to deny Jerusalem’s Jewish heritage. It is one thing to deny the past in theory; it is quite another to argue the Earth is flat when physical evidence shows it to be round. It is easier for the Palestinian Authority and the custodians of the Waqf to destroy historical heritage than acknowledge their narratives are false.
China, too, seeks to rewrite history and erase the diversity of the lands they once conquered in pursuit of a Han Chinese narrative that is essentially supremacist.
As the Taliban return to their iconoclasm and make a mockery of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s naïve calls for diversity, not only the State Department but also the United Nations and the broader international community must rethink their response.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization today symbolizes the problem more than the solution. Consider: In 2005, Azerbaijan destroyed the Julfa Graveyard and its unique collection of centuries-old khachkars, despite UNESCO’s calls to cease its destruction. Rather than punish Azerbaijan, UNESCO rewarded Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev by appointing his wife Mehriban Aliyeva to be a goodwill ambassador. After such venality, it should surprise no one that Aliyev now erases Armenian heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh, control over which Armenians and Azeris still dispute. Rather than protect cultural heritage, UNESCO’s corruption has made it a catalyst for destruction.
In Afghanistan, the world should hold the Taliban responsible. UNESCO should expel not only Afghanistan but also Pakistan from its body. Neither should be eligible for UNESCO aid. The same holds true for China. That all three are currently on UNESCO’s executive board is a mockery.
The State Department might also publish a list of individuals complicit in the destruction of cultural heritage and restrict their abilities to receive visas. They might further coordinate with like-minded states in Europe and around the globe to follow suit. Any official involved who destroys cultural heritage should become an international pariah, plain and simple. There should be no more Mehriban Aliyevas. History must triumph over money.
Michael Rubin (@Mrubin1971) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential. He is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
