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Hamed Esmaeilion

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Hamed Esmaeilion
حامد اسماعیلیون
Hamed Esmailion at the grave of his wife and daughter, two of the people who died in Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752
Born (1977-03-12) March 12, 1977 (age 47)
Kermanshah, Imperial State of Iran
NationalityIranian
EducationUniversity of Tabriz
Occupation(s)Social activist, author and dentist
TitleFormer President and spokesman of The Association of Victims' Families of Flight PS752
Spouse
Parisa Eghbalian
​
(died 2020)​
ChildrenReera (deceased)

Hamed Esmaeilion (Persian: حامد اسماعیلیون, born March 12, 1977) is an Iranian-Canadian social activist and author.[1] Esmaeilion won the Hooshang Golshiri Literary Awards for two of his books, Dr. Datis and Thyme is not Fair. [citation needed]

Esmaeilion was the president and former spokesman of The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims.[2][3] He resigned on 7 March 2023, after announcing he is planning to focus more on the Mahsa Amini protests.[4]

Early life and career

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His parents were originally from Arak, Iran and moved to Kermanshah where Hamed was born and grew up. He studied Dentistry at the University of Tabriz between 1995 and 2000. Afterwards, he worked and lived in various parts of Iran, such as Golestan, Mazandaran and Tehran provinces for several years. He immigrated to Canada together with his family in 2010 and lived in Richmond Hill, Ontario.[5][6][1]

Literary life

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As a blogger, Esmaeilion began his literary career by publishing two collections of short stories, Thyme is not Fair (2008, winner of the Houshang Golshiri Award) and The Canary Owner (2010). He published two novels, Dr Datis (2013, Zavosh) and Gamasiab Has No Fish (2014), the former was also awarded the Golshiri Award.[7][8][better source needed]

Death of his wife and daughter

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Main article: Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752

Parisa Eghbalian (Esmaeilion's wife) and Reera Esmaeilion (his daughter), flew with Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 from Tehran to Kyiv on 8 January 2020. This flight was shot down by two surface-to-air missiles of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shortly after takeoff, which the IRGC said they mistook for a ballistic missile ,[9] killing all 176 passengers and crew aboard, including Esmaeilion's wife and daughter. The flight was supposed to take off at 5:15 (local time) but was delayed; eventually it flew on 6:12, was then struck after a few minutes and crashed near the city of Parand.[10]

Esmaeilion is one of the founders and was also the president and spokesman of The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims until March 2023, which he said were trying to "take legal action for this crime" and "commemorate the memory of the dead".[11][12] He was later featured in 752 Is Not a Number, a Canadian documentary film, directed by Babak Payami and released in 2022.[13]

Opposition to the Iranian government

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During the Mahsa Amini protests, an internet blackout followed by a cyber attack targeted "the Covenant", the movement's initial leader, leaving the protesters without direction.[1] In the aftermath, key Iranian opposition figures outside the country—Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran, soccer player Ali Karimi, dentist Hamed Esmaeilion, and women's rights activist Masih Alinejad—formed a coalition.[2] They amplified their message through media outlets such as BBC and Iran International, assuming leadership of the movement.[3]

On October 1, 2022, Esmaeilion organized a global demonstration against the Islamic Republic for Iranians living abroad, in the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini to support the Mahsa Amini protests. These rallies took place in more than 150 cities throughout the world against the Islamic Republic. Protests happened in Sydney, Melbourne, London, Edinburgh, Stockholm, Brussels, Berlin, Rome, Los Angeles and Toronto. Global news estimated that in Richmond Hill, Ontario more than 50 thousand protesters attended the rally.[14][15][16][17] Esmaeilion organized another demonstration in Berlin on October 22, 2022 and invited Iranians in Europe to be the voice for protesters in Iran. The number of protesters were estimated at about 80,000 to 100,000 by ABC news.[18]

In March 2023, he resigned as the president and spokesman of The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims to focus more on his role in Iran's "Women, Life, Freedom" protests.[19] Despite concerns from many, including members of the Covenant, who believed the movement had been "hijacked" or "emotionalized," the protests persisted for several more months before eventually collapsing. A few weeks later, the coalition itself disbanded.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Dr. Hamed Esmaeilion - Aurora E&E Dentistry". Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  2. ^ Borger, Julian. ‘Our lives are destroyed’: families take fight for truth of flight 752 to ICC. The Guardian: 14 September 2022.
  3. ^ Burke, Ashley; Tizhoosh, Nahayat. Families of Flight PS752 victims say RCMP isn't doing enough to help Ukraine's criminal probe. 8 January 2022: CBC.
  4. ^ "اسماعیلیون برای تمرکز بر نقشش در انقلاب ایران از سخنگویی انجمن پرواز اوکراینی استعفا داد". ایران اینترنشنال (Iran International) (in Persian). Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  5. ^ نویسنده جسور، دندانپزشک محافظه‌کار/ گپ‌و گفتی با حامد اسماعیلیون
  6. ^ سرنگونی پرواز ۷۵۲ به روایت یک «نویسندۀ نانجیب»
  7. ^ "Hamed Esmaeilion Recommends". Parsagon. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  8. ^ Shataw Naseri (5 June 2014). "Houshang Golshiri Awards". The Parsagon Review. Archived from the original on 3 March 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Iran Says It Unintentionally Shot Down Ukrainian Airliner". The New York Times. 10 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  10. ^ Oliphant, Roland; Mendick, Robert; Nicholls, Dominic (8 January 2020). "Iran under pressure to explain Tehran plane crash after 176 killed in Ukrainian jet disaster". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023.
  11. ^ خانواده‌های قربانیان هواپیمای اوکراینی: تضمینی وجود دارد ایران به هواپیمای دیگری شلیک نکند؟
  12. ^ حامد اسماعیلیون: با اظهارات نماینده مجلس یکبار دیگر هواپیما سقوط کرد
  13. ^ Nicole Thompson, "In doc ‘752 Is Not A Number,’ Payami seeks to humanize victims of tragedy". Toronto Star, September 11, 2022.
  14. ^ Worldwide Rallies Show Unprecedented Support For Iran Protests. 1 October 2022. Iran International.
  15. ^ Organizer Of Global Rallies Calls For Expulsion Of Tehran’s Envoys . 2 October 2022. Iran International.
  16. ^ Global Protests Planned in Solidarity with Iranians . 30 September 2022. Iran Wire.
  17. ^ "More than 50K attend Richmond Hill, Ont. protest against Iranian government - Toronto | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Tens of thousands march in Berlin in solidarity with Iran protests". ABC News. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  19. ^ "اعلامیه انجمن در مورد کناره گیری دکتر حامد اسماعیلیون از سمت دبیری و سخنگوی انجمن - The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims / PS752 انجمن خانواده‌های جانباختگان پرواز | PS752Justice" (in Persian). 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
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External videos
video icon Activist Hamed Esmaeilion fights against the Supreme Leader of Iran and calls for justice for victims of the Flight PS752, CNN Connect.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hamed_Esmaeilion&oldid=1254745184"