Manoubiyeh Bouazizi, the mother of Mohamed Bouazizi, the local fruit vendor who set himself on fire 17 December, stands next to his picture at the family house, in the town of Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, Tuesday March 8, 2011. The desperate act set off mass protests that brought down Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in less than a month and inspired others who toppled autocratic Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, launched an armed rebellion against Libyan despot Muammar Gadhafi, and rattled governments in Yemen, Syria, Bahrain and elsewhere. (AP Photo: Giorgos Moutafis)
Celebrations kick off in Tunisia on the 17 December, 2010 anniversary: the day a fruit stand vendor named Mohamed Al Bouazizi set himself on fire in front of a government building in frustration over corruption and lack of opportunities. A policewoman had told him he couldn’t sell his produce there, and as an unemployed university student, he depended on this income.
Like many in today’s world, corruption, corporate and political greed and the gap between the haves and the have nots is the pressure cooker that is rocking the centres of many capitals across the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere, with protests.
Egypt, another North African country, looked for inspiration to their brothers in Tunisia despite the countries being wildly different.
Tunisia is highly-francophone, with a small population, tiny land mass, and a very different Arabic dialect from the Egyptian, considering chasm of desert between Egypt and Tunisia and their Berber influence. Ninety-eight per cent of Tunisia's population can be considered highly educated, whereas in Egypt illiteracy runs very high. Egyptians living under poverty is at 20 per cent in a developing country where the "poverty" is almost an unimaginable life for a Westerner.
Egypt, “the mother of the world,” as they call themselves, if it can be said has a second language it is no longer French, but English, has an overwhelming 85 million in population and a large land-mass for resources and governmental benefits to have to cover.
The military, dubbed the peoples' protectors, has always had a domineering presence in Egyptian politics, and after toppling Hosni Mubarak, they remained in control of the country. In Tunisia, the military is at the service of the government, and has remained so.
In sum, geopolitical and social factors have made a difference in Tunisia's seeming ability to move forward quicker.
Both Egypt and Tunisia, however, have a martyr, who died because they defied the system out of frustration.
One 6 June 2010, months before Al Bouazizi set himself on fire, a young entrepreneur in Egypt, Khaled Said was beaten to death by police and left in the street. Said’s brother published a photo of his disfigured face on the internet and, spreading like wildfire, a Facebook page called “We are all Khaled Said” was established. Peaceful, silent protests against police brutality had begun all over Egypt - and all it took was the inspiration of Tunisia’s protests only a month earlier for Egypt to take a stand on the national Police Day, 25 January.
Today, Tunisia’s recently sworn-in secular president (under an Islamist-based parliament) gives some words praising the revolution at the year mark celebrations. Today, Tunisians feel free to demonstrate and can taste the change. Their Islamist Ennahda Party is very moderate in a traditionally secular state.
Today, Egypt is only recently wrapping up an election that also will see relatively more hardline Islamists making legislation, but it is still yet to be known who will lead as president and prime minister. Egyptians, with their huge population, sometimes surprises many of the political commentators, who internally hope that Egypt is more tolerant than it actually has proven recently. Elections were fraught with vote-buying, a few centres had voting inconsistencies, Christian Copts have been attacked, on the top of Salafist Islamists’ agenda seems to be the elimination of the bikini, etc.
Although 17 December should be a day where Egyptians cheer and laugh out loud with their brothers and sisters in Tunisia, today Egyptians are literally fighting on the street against their own military with batons, riot gear and bullets simply for the right to protest and make demands.
The Arab Spring was an inspiration for change around the world, a fierce effort to shake off the grime from corruption, a search for peace of mind that you can say what’s on your mind without reprisals.
While Tunisia today can hold a celebration, Egypt today is busy struggling, but hold onto to the brilliant Tunisian inspiration.
Below is a list of the domino-effect across the Middle East inspired by Tunisia’s Bouazizi:
TUNISIA
On 17 December, 2010, a young Tunisian, who has been able to find no other job than selling fruit, sets himself alight in an act of desperation.
The young man, Mohamed Bouazizi, dies the following month as revolts break out across Tunisia.
On 14 January Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali quits after 23 years of rule. He goes into exile, and is later tried in absentia.
On 12 December, 2011 the newly-elected constituent assembly -- dominated by the moderate Islamists of Ennahda -- elects former opposition leader Moncef Marzouki as president.
EGYPT
On 25 January, 2011, widespread protests break out in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country, where president Hosni Mubarak has been in power for three decades.
On 11 February with massive crowds filling Cairo's Tahrir Square, Mubarak steps down and hands over power to the military. Nearly 850 civilians are killed in the violence.
November 2011, the country enters an electoral process that will span several months. In the early stages Islamists gain prominence.
YEMEN
In Yemen, a major protest movement is launched on 27 January to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in power in Sanaa since 1978.
Several hundred protesters have been killed during the protests.
On 23 November Saleh finally signs an agreement which calls for him to hand over his powers and then step down. An early presidential election is arranged for 21 February.
SYRIA
Since 15 March, the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad has faced a protest movement across the country to which his forces have responded with deadly force.
Despite sanctions, Assad's regime refuses international calls for an end to the bloody crackdown.
According to the United Nations, over 5,000 people have been killed. Clashes have also escalated between Syrian army deserters and the regular army.
LIBYA
In oil-rich Libya a revolt starts in mid-February. Moamer Kadhafi, who has ruled since 1969, sends troops to crush the main centre of revolt, in the eastern city of Benghazi.
The UN authorises force to protect civilians and in March a military operation using air power is launched by the United States, Britain and France. The mission is later placed under the control of NATO.
The rebels take over the capital Tripoli in August, and Kadhafi is captured and killed in his home town of Sirte on 20 October.
The country's new rulers say that more than 30,000 have been killed in the conflict.
A transitional government is formed in November, but the new rulers are accused of a lack of transparency.
BAHRAIN
From mid-February to mid-March, Bahrain sees protests calling for political reforms. A Saudi-led Gulf force enters the country to help crush the protests. Around 30 people die during the repression.
An official report into the violence says the authorities used "excessive force" and torture against the protesters, who were mainly members of the Sunni-ruled kingdom's Shiite Muslim majority.
JORDAN
Starting on 14 January, thousands of Jordanians take to the streets. King Abdullah II has vowed constitutional reforms leading to more democracy, and the unrest has not taken on the proportions seen in other Arab countries.
(list compiled by AFP)
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