Pride, Horror, Hope in Syria - a Personal Story
Posted by Henry G. Kammerer
on Feb 11, 2016
Pride / Horror / Hope / Help: GI Rotary Club Member Elias Tochan (a Syrian native) gave a gripping story last evening (2/10/16) at our Launch Club meeting. Palmyra, Syria had been the PRIDE of Syrian history & culture – a key (rich) city in the Roman empire route bringing spices and gems from the East. Elaborate statues and mosaics showed its rich history. Massive colonnades, Triumphal Arches survived for almost 2000 yrs, now the HORROR as they are destroyed by ISIS. Why? What they couldn’t cart off to sell on the archaeology black market, ISIS blew up! Elias certainly HOPES that some may be restored, and that the destruction finally energizes the world to HELP. Thanks for the evening, Elias, we are sure it was a tough story to tell, we also HOPE for recovery. Here’s an example of what Elias was talking about, Palmyra’s Colonnade & Triumphal Arch before, then in rubble after destruction by ISIS: