Middle East Focus: Mohammed Bouazizi, Slayer of the Arab Fear, is Publicly Honored "in London"………..

Arabia Deserta

Mohammed Bouazizi, Slayer of the Arab Fear, is Publicly Honored "in London"………..

Rattlesnake Ridge

BFF

“The Times newspaper in London on Wednesday named Mohammed Bouazizi, the Tunisian fruit seller who unwittingly started a wave of protests known as the Arab Spring, as its person of 2011. The 26-year-old from a poor family set himself alight in the town of Sidi Bouzid on Dec. 17, 2010, in protest against harassment by officials, and died from his burns in early January. His actions sparked a revolt that toppled president Zine ElAbidine Ben Ali and ignited protests across the region which ultimately led to the fall of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. “Mr Bouazizi takes his place with other figures whose willingness to see through the charade of oppressive rule elevated them beyond the drudgeries and petty humiliations of commonplace existence,” The Times said in an editorial. "His brief life and agonising death are a fanfare for the common man."………..”

They should have all honored him as person of the year. He was the Person of 2011. He lit the fire that spread across Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and more. It is true that all these Arab state were, still are, ripe for revolution, have been for decades. Some, as in Egypt and Bahrain had been pushing against the despots for some time before Bouazizi. Yet there was no mass movement in the streets. The fear was still there. Yet someone had to start them, light the spark, kill the Arab fear. Mohammed Bouazizi the desperate angry Tunisian did it, with his life.

He was not even mentioned by the new Tunisian regime when it took office. Nor truly acknowledged by any other leaders of the Arab uprisings as far as I know. Which makes sense in a way: acknowledging his wider role would mean that the uprisings are a pan-Arab revolution, and that is a no-no in this age of softer dictatorships and pan-petroleum absolute tribal oligarchies.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com