La Jornada: Iranian musician moves among the rubble

An Iranian musician was filmed performing on the rubble of his music school after it was destroyed by attacks from the United States and Israel.

In the video, Hamidreza Afarideh is seen playing the kamancheh, a traditional string instrument from Persia (Iran) and other regions of the Middle East.

The moment in which the musician rubs the bow while the instrument rests on his knee – and from which a nostalgic sound similar to the violin comes out – went viral on social networks.

Hamidreza told AJ+ that it took him and his wife more than two years to build the Honiak music academy together.

Before its destruction, the center served 250 students and employed 22 teachers and administrative staff. But once the war started, it had to close its facilities to protect the students.

In this war, attacks on schools have been a distinctive feature. Of particular note is the bombing launched on February 28 at a girls’ school in Minab, in the province of Hormozgan, in southern Iran, which killed 168 people, of whom at least 100 were children.

The scenes that have resulted from these attacks led a large community of artists and entertainment figures such as Asghar Farhadi, Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem and Tom Morello to raise their voices against the military intervention.

From Paris, renowned Iranian director Asghar Farhadi has urged filmmakers and artists to “unite to stop this inhuman act.”

Attacks by the United States and Israel have destroyed entire neighborhoods in Iran and forced more than 3.2 million people from their homes. During the first bombings under operation Epic Fury Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who led the country since 1989, has died.

After 40 days of joint attacks, a two-week ceasefire was reported on April 7. The announcement has been welcomed by world leaders, who hope it will allow the start of peace talks.