Stalin
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- Apr 4, 2008
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You can see how the story of the life of this man has evoked such feeling..
"Tarek al-Tayyib Muhammad ibn Bouazizi (March 29, 1984 – January 4, 2011), known simply as Mohamed Bouazizi (Arabic: محمد البوعزيزي), was a Tunisian street vendor who burned himself to death on December 17, 2010, in protest of the confiscation of his wares and the humiliation that was inflicted on him by a female municipal official. This act became the catalyst for the 2010–2011 Tunisian uprising, sparking deadly demonstrations and riots throughout Tunisia in protest of social and political issues in the country. Anger and violence intensified following Bouazizi's death, leading then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down after 23 years in power.
Following Bouazizi's self-immolation, several other men have emulated this act in other Arab republics in an attempt to bring an end to the oppression they face from corrupt autocratic governments. Significant changes are happening in Tunisia and Egypt and as a result, they and Bouazizi are being hailed by some as "heroic martyrs of a new Middle Eastern revolution."[1]
Mohamed Bouazizi, who was known locally as Basboosa,[2] was born in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, on March 29, 1984. His father, a construction worker in Libya, died of a heart attack when Bouazizi was three, and his mother married Bouazizi's uncle some time later.[3] Along with his six siblings,[4] Bouazizi was educated in a one-room country school in a village named Sidi Salah.[5] Although multiple media outlets reported that Bouazizi had a university degree,[4][6][7] his sister, Samia Bouazizi, stated that he had never graduated from high school,[8] but that it was something he had wanted for both himself and his sisters.[5] With his uncle in poor health and unable to work regularly,[9] Bouazizi had worked various jobs since he was ten,[3] and in his late teens he quit school in order to work full-time.[9]
Bouazizi lived in a modest stucco home, a twenty-minute walk from the center of Sidi Bouzid,[10][11] a rural town in Tunisia burdened by corruption[12] and suffering an unemployment rate estimated at 30%.[13] According to his mother, Mannoubia Bouazizi, he applied to join the army, but was refused, and several subsequent job applications had also resulted in rejection.[9] He supported his mother, uncle, and younger siblings, including paying for one of his sisters to attend university, by earning approximately US$140 per month[9][5] selling his produce on the street in Sidi Bouzid. He was also working toward the goal of buying a work van, according to his sister Samia.
Local police officers had targeted Bouazizi for years, even during his childhood, regularly confiscating his small wheelbarrow of produce;[9] but Bouazizi had few options to try to make a living, so he continued to work as a street vendor. On the morning of December 17, 2010, he had contracted approximately US$200 in debt to buy his merchandise.[14][15] Soon after setting up his cart, the police confiscated his wares again, ostensibly because Bouazizi did not have a vendor's permit. However, although some sources state that street vending is illegal in Tunisia,[14][16] and that Bouazizi lacked a required permit,[5] according to the head of Sidi Bouzid's state office for employment and independent work, no permit is needed to sell from a cart.[12]
It was also claimed that Bouazizi did not have the funds to bribe the police officials to allow his street vending to continue.[5][17] Two of Bouazizi's siblings accused authorities of attempting to extort money from their brother,[12] and during an interview with Reuters, one of his sisters stated, "What kind of repression do you imagine it takes for a young man to do this? A man who has to feed his family by buying goods on credit when they fine him ... and take his goods. In Sidi Bouzid, those with no connections and no money for bribes are humiliated and insulted and not allowed to live."[18]
Regardless, Bouazizi was publicly humiliated when a 45-year-old female municipal official, F. Hamdi,[4][9][19] slapped him in the face, spat at him, confiscated his electronic weighing scales, and tossed aside his fruit and vegetable cart; all while her two colleagues assisted her in beating him.[20] It was also stated that she made a slur against his deceased father.[18] Her gender made his humiliation worse due to expectations in the Arab world.[21][4]
Angered by the confrontation,[22] Bouazizi went to the governor's office to complain.[14] Following the governor's refusal to see or listen to him, even after Bouazizi was quoted as saying "'If you don't see me, I'll burn myself'," he acquired a can of gasoline (or two bottles of paint thinner) and, at 11:30 a.m. local time (less than an hour after the altercation),[23] he doused himself in front of a local government building and set himself alight.[14][23]
According to Bouazizi's mother, who was not told of her son's intention before he carried out this act,[23] he committed suicide because he had been humiliated and not because of their poverty. "It got to him deep inside, it hurt his pride," she said, referring to the police harassment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Bouazizi
In the muslim world, the concept of a martyr means much more than in european culture. To kill yourself in the cause of a principle generates much spiritual merit as it means you submit yourself to a greater thing.
Islam means submission.
This act has strong emotional and religious resonance.
What do other people think.
Comrade Stalin
"Tarek al-Tayyib Muhammad ibn Bouazizi (March 29, 1984 – January 4, 2011), known simply as Mohamed Bouazizi (Arabic: محمد البوعزيزي), was a Tunisian street vendor who burned himself to death on December 17, 2010, in protest of the confiscation of his wares and the humiliation that was inflicted on him by a female municipal official. This act became the catalyst for the 2010–2011 Tunisian uprising, sparking deadly demonstrations and riots throughout Tunisia in protest of social and political issues in the country. Anger and violence intensified following Bouazizi's death, leading then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down after 23 years in power.
Following Bouazizi's self-immolation, several other men have emulated this act in other Arab republics in an attempt to bring an end to the oppression they face from corrupt autocratic governments. Significant changes are happening in Tunisia and Egypt and as a result, they and Bouazizi are being hailed by some as "heroic martyrs of a new Middle Eastern revolution."[1]
Mohamed Bouazizi, who was known locally as Basboosa,[2] was born in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, on March 29, 1984. His father, a construction worker in Libya, died of a heart attack when Bouazizi was three, and his mother married Bouazizi's uncle some time later.[3] Along with his six siblings,[4] Bouazizi was educated in a one-room country school in a village named Sidi Salah.[5] Although multiple media outlets reported that Bouazizi had a university degree,[4][6][7] his sister, Samia Bouazizi, stated that he had never graduated from high school,[8] but that it was something he had wanted for both himself and his sisters.[5] With his uncle in poor health and unable to work regularly,[9] Bouazizi had worked various jobs since he was ten,[3] and in his late teens he quit school in order to work full-time.[9]
Bouazizi lived in a modest stucco home, a twenty-minute walk from the center of Sidi Bouzid,[10][11] a rural town in Tunisia burdened by corruption[12] and suffering an unemployment rate estimated at 30%.[13] According to his mother, Mannoubia Bouazizi, he applied to join the army, but was refused, and several subsequent job applications had also resulted in rejection.[9] He supported his mother, uncle, and younger siblings, including paying for one of his sisters to attend university, by earning approximately US$140 per month[9][5] selling his produce on the street in Sidi Bouzid. He was also working toward the goal of buying a work van, according to his sister Samia.
Local police officers had targeted Bouazizi for years, even during his childhood, regularly confiscating his small wheelbarrow of produce;[9] but Bouazizi had few options to try to make a living, so he continued to work as a street vendor. On the morning of December 17, 2010, he had contracted approximately US$200 in debt to buy his merchandise.[14][15] Soon after setting up his cart, the police confiscated his wares again, ostensibly because Bouazizi did not have a vendor's permit. However, although some sources state that street vending is illegal in Tunisia,[14][16] and that Bouazizi lacked a required permit,[5] according to the head of Sidi Bouzid's state office for employment and independent work, no permit is needed to sell from a cart.[12]
It was also claimed that Bouazizi did not have the funds to bribe the police officials to allow his street vending to continue.[5][17] Two of Bouazizi's siblings accused authorities of attempting to extort money from their brother,[12] and during an interview with Reuters, one of his sisters stated, "What kind of repression do you imagine it takes for a young man to do this? A man who has to feed his family by buying goods on credit when they fine him ... and take his goods. In Sidi Bouzid, those with no connections and no money for bribes are humiliated and insulted and not allowed to live."[18]
Regardless, Bouazizi was publicly humiliated when a 45-year-old female municipal official, F. Hamdi,[4][9][19] slapped him in the face, spat at him, confiscated his electronic weighing scales, and tossed aside his fruit and vegetable cart; all while her two colleagues assisted her in beating him.[20] It was also stated that she made a slur against his deceased father.[18] Her gender made his humiliation worse due to expectations in the Arab world.[21][4]
Angered by the confrontation,[22] Bouazizi went to the governor's office to complain.[14] Following the governor's refusal to see or listen to him, even after Bouazizi was quoted as saying "'If you don't see me, I'll burn myself'," he acquired a can of gasoline (or two bottles of paint thinner) and, at 11:30 a.m. local time (less than an hour after the altercation),[23] he doused himself in front of a local government building and set himself alight.[14][23]
According to Bouazizi's mother, who was not told of her son's intention before he carried out this act,[23] he committed suicide because he had been humiliated and not because of their poverty. "It got to him deep inside, it hurt his pride," she said, referring to the police harassment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Bouazizi
In the muslim world, the concept of a martyr means much more than in european culture. To kill yourself in the cause of a principle generates much spiritual merit as it means you submit yourself to a greater thing.
Islam means submission.
This act has strong emotional and religious resonance.
What do other people think.
Comrade Stalin
