{"id":116320,"date":"2026-05-16T08:04:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T08:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/116320\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T08:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T08:04:13","slug":"mural-in-texas-honors-druze-iranian-children-killed-by-iran-proxies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/116320\/","title":{"rendered":"Mural in Texas honors Druze, Iranian children killed by Iran, proxies"},"content":{"rendered":"

A large-scale mural honoring Druze and Iranian children killed by the Islamic regime of Iran and its regional proxies was unveiled Thursday in Webster, Texas<\/a>, as Iranian-American artist Hooman Khalili sought to draw international attention to the victims ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The installation, titled \u201cWOMAN. LIFE. FREEDOM.,\u201d was unveiled between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. at 425 Henrietta in Webster, outside Houston<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The mural depicts children gathered on a soccer field and combines the stories of victims from Israel and Iran. At the center of the installation are the 12 Druze children killed on July 27, 2024, when a Hezbollah rocket struck a soccer field in Majdal Shams<\/a> near Mount Hermon in northern Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The artwork also honors Iranian children killed during unrest and crackdowns carried out by the Islamic regime since 2022, including Kian Pirfalak, Sarina Esmailzadeh, and Nika Shakarami.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis mural is ultimately about children,\u201d Khalili said. \u201cDifferent backgrounds, different countries, different languages – but the same stolen innocence. These children share a common enemy in the ideology and violence exported by the Islamic regime and its proxies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khalili said the installation was timed to coincide with growing international attention on North America ahead of the FIFA World Cup<\/a>, which will be hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe roots of this project are in Israel,\u201d he said. \u201cBut my hope is that the tree blossoms in the United States. As the world gathers around soccer, I want the eyes of the world to also see the humanity of these children and the brutality that took their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mural incorporates imagery associated with Druze and Persian identity, including references to Nabi Shu\u2019ayb, Jethro\u2019s Tomb, the Azadi Tower in Tehran, and the Lion and Sun emblem of Persia.<\/p>\n

Khalili recently traveled to Majdal Shams, where he met Naila Fakhr al-Din, the mother of Alma Fakhr al-Din, and Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Rafa Halabi. The installation also includes a tribute to Iranian footballer Zahra Azadpour, who was killed during unrest in Iran in January 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A large-scale mural honoring Druze and Iranian children killed by the Islamic regime of Iran and its regional…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5574,8531,2978,100,34,93,12180,715,256],"class_list":{"0":"post-116320","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran","8":"tag-children","9":"tag-druze","10":"tag-fifa-world-cup","11":"tag-hezbollah","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-lebanon","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-the-media-line","16":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116583220057422769","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}