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Serialised book readings, featuring works from various genres

Serialised book readings, featuring works of non-fiction, biography, autobiography, travel, diaries, essays, humour and history

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Book of the Week: The Pianist of Yarmouk: Episode 2

The Pianist of Yarmouk

Episode 2

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, The Pianist of Yarmouk, Episode 2

Aeham Ahmad’s dramatic story of how he defied the war in Syria with his music.

Starving and under siege from President Assad’s forces in the Damascus suburb of Yarmouk, Aeham Ahmad decides to push his piano into the ruined streets and protest with his music.

Ammar Haj Ahmad reads Aeham Ahmad’s dramatic account of how he risked his life under siege in Damascus, defying the Syrian regime with his music. 

It’s the summer of 2013 and the armies of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have cut the Damascus suburb of Yarmouk off from the world in an attempt to starve out the rebel Free Syrian Army. Aehem, formerly a prosperous music teacher, is trapped there with his family and is selling falafal made from pigeon food to keep them alive. 

"Being hungry makes you moody. The starving people of Yarmouk shuffled morosely through the deserted, bombed out streets, or huddled around campfires, burning clothes and plastic bottles. No matter where you went, you could never escape the terrible stench of burning plastic bottles.

"People were aging in fast-motion. Before the siege, my mother had still seemed young, but now she was grey and haggard, her face lined with deep wrinkles. She had lost a lot of weight — 'And all without a diet or gym,' she said sarcastically. From time to time I would weigh myself. Before, I had weighed over ten stone, now I wasn’t much more than seven. I could see my ribcage under my skin."

But in the midst of starvation and misery, Aeham pushes his piano into the ruined streets and starts a choir to lift the spirits of the residents of Yarmouk. A friend videos his protest songs and soon Aeham is getting tens of thousands of hits on the internet. But he’s taking a huge risk.

The Pianist of Yarmouk is read by Ammar Haj Ahmad, who trained as an actor before fleeing the conflict in Syria. He recently starred in the critically acclaimed play The Jungle, set in the notorious Calais refugee camp, in London and New York.

Written by Aeham Ahmad
Read by Ammar Haj Ahmad
Abridged and produced by Jane Greenwood
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4

Book of the Week: The Pianist of Yarmouk

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Aeham Ahmad's dramatic story of how he defied the war in Syria with his music.

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