London, 27 October 2015 — UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova spoke at the Ismaili Centre, London today on the challenges of protecting cultural heritage in times of conflict.

When “attacks are carried out by extremists against cultural heritage, in fact these are attacks against the communities,” said the UNESCO Director-General. They are “attacks against all of us, about the humanity we all share.”

The event was part of the Forum for New Diplomacy, a joint initiative of the Académie Diplomatique Internationale and the International New York Times that engages leading figures in politics, business and civil society in discussion on emerging dynamics and challenges in global affairs.

No longer simply a source of funding, attacks on cultural heritage are systematically carried out by war criminals as a way to disseminate fear and silence the voices of citizens, explained the Director-General Bokova. The destruction of cultural heritage, she said, “tears the fabric of society,” removing cultural evidence that celebrates diversity, while weakening the ground for peace and legitimising the imposition of narrow-minded ideologies.

Following her address, an on-stage question and answer session was moderated by New York Times Editorial Board Member Serge Schmemann