The Tunisian fruit seller who kickstarted Arab uprising
By Ivan Watson and Jomana Karadsheh
March 22, 2011 -- Updated 1731 GMT (0131 HKT)
Click to play
Mohammed Bouazizi: The legacy he left for Tunisia
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
(CNN) -- When cousins visit the Bouazizi family's humble cottage, they take
turns paying homage to the family's most famous son -- the man credited with
kick-starting uprisings around North Africa and the Middle East.
"Kiss the martyr Mohammed," a woman says, as she holds her daughter up to a
portrait of the young man, which hangs halfway up an otherwise bare wall. The
large poster identifies Mohammed Bouazizi as "the spark of the uprising of
dignity." It's not only his family that feels this way.
Several blocks away, another huge portrait of the 26-year old man hangs from
the top of a golden monument in the center of Sidi Bouzid, alongside banners
proclaiming it is now "Martyr Mohammed Bouazizi Square."
Many Tunisians call Bouazizi a hero for setting himself on fire outside a
government building. He is credited with galvanizing ill-feeling against
governments across the Middle East and North Africa into actions that has seen
demonstrations, uprisings and revolution.
Gallery: Mohamed Bouazizi: Arab martyr
"The man is a symbol for eternity, for all the world," says Tunisian movie
director Mohammed Zran, who plans to make a feature film about Bouazizi. "For
me he's more important than Mandela or Gandhi or Martin [Luther] King [Jr].
Really. Because with his act we are seeing, watching everywhere revolution...
and it's coming from this little town."
High praise for a man who just three months ago, was an unknown street vendor
struggling to feed his family by selling fruit. Bouazizi earned the equivalent
of barely $10 a day pushing his fruit cart through the streets of his
down-on-its-luck Tunisian town.
"These government inspectors used to confiscate our goods and demand bribes,"
says Bouazizi's uncle Ridha, who also operates a fruit cart in downtown Sidi
Bouazid. "It was because of their tyranny that Mohamed set himself on fire."
On the morning of December 17, a female municipal inspector named Faida Hamdy
accosted Bouazizi. An altercation erupted during which Hamdy the inspector
seized Bouazizi's fruit-weighing scales. Locals and Bouazizi's relatives also
say the inspector slapped Bouazizi, an allegation CNN could not independently
confirm.
After the incident, the humiliated fruit vendor repeatedly tried and failed to
get the attention of town officials. Then something snapped. He purchased fuel,
doused himself with it, and lit a lethal flame outside the gates of the
governorate building.
Almost immediately, protests erupted in Sidi Bouzid and then quickly spread to
other cities and towns across the country. The poor fruit vendor became a
symbol of the anger and frustrations of Tunisians fed up with corruption and
the authoritarian rule of President Zine el Abedine Ben Ali, who had been in
power for 23 years.
This cart is a symbol, it represents freedom. This overthrew the regime.
--Ridha Bouazizi, uncle of Mohammed
Under mounting pressure, Ben Ali visited the hospital bed of the young man from
Sidi Bouzid. An eerie photo released by Ben Ali's press office dated December
28 showed the Tunisian leader standing next to Bouazizi. Only the young man's
charred and blackened lips showed from underneath bandages which wrapped him
from head to toe.
The public display of sympathy was too little, far too late. On January 4,
after more than two agonizing weeks in hospital, Bouazizi died from his
horrific injuries. Before another two weeks were out, Ben Ali would flee the
country.
Bouazizi's self-immolation inspired copy-cat acts of protest in Mauritania,
Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Meanwhile, Tunisia's startling revolution
triggered unprecedented popular revolts that continue to ripple across the Arab
world and beyond.
Back in the town where it arguably all started, residents of Sidi Bouzid seek
to claim ownership of this historic movement.
Graffiti scrawled across government buildings announce "stand up for your
rights" and "glory to the martyrs." Locals passionately argue that Tunisia's
revolution should be named after December 17, the day Bouazizi set fire to
himself.
And Bouazizi's uncle, the fruit vendor Ridha, has become something of a local
celebrity. He waxes poetic before the dozens of journalists who have
interviewed him over the past several months.
"This cart is a symbol, it represents freedom," Ridha Bouazizi says, pointing
at his wagon loaded with oranges. "This overthrew the regime."
But some of the euphoria of the revolution has given way to the everyday
struggle of trying to make a living.
Nearly two months after Ben Ali's overthrow, barbed wire and soldiers continue
to guard the governorate. Every morning, scores of people line up to beg for
jobs and apply for social support from the town's new leaders.
Inside, Sidi Bouzid's new 36-year-old deputy governor leafs through the scores
of job applications that have piled up on his desk in a single morning.
"We need to create more work and jobs and build new factories," says Ali Rahal,
a jocular former professor of philosophy, who looks somewhat out of place in
his shiny black suit and bright white socks. Rahal says unemployment stood at
33 percent in Sidi Bouzid before the revolution and there is little indication
those depressing statistics have improved since then.
I am proud of him, thank God he spoke out. He turned the world upside down.
[But] he did not deserve to die.
--Manoubia Bouazizi speaks of her son Mohammed
RELATED TOPICS
Tunisia
Mohamed Bouazizi
Among the many jobless men who while away the hours sipping potent shot-glasses
of tea and smoking cigarettes near the city center, there is hope that regime
change will bring new economic hope.
"I'm very happy with this revolution, but we will have to wait," says 33-year
old Zaidi Negi, a university graduate who says he hasn't been able to find a
job in the last seven years. "It can't all happen in an instant." It could take
two or three years, according to the development of the country.
"By then I'll have to retire from the job of being unemployed," jokes Aziz
Bouzidi. At 54, Bouzidi says he doesn't have the luxury to wait around much
longer for work.
It was amid this backdrop of economic despair that Mohammed Bouazizi made
difficult personal choices for the good of his family.
He began working as a child, says his older brother Salem, who by some bizarre
twist of fate, saw his first son Omar born on the same day Mohamed set fire to
himself.
"Mohammed was the main bread winner for the family," Salem says. "He dropped
out of school even though he had good grades to pay for my sister's education."
Bouazizi's 16-year old sister, Basma, walks home from school down partially
paved roads to the tiny, three-room house where the family of seven lives.
These days, the Bouazizi home has become a place of pilgrimage for journalists
from around the world. Over a two-day period, at least five teams of reporters
and writers, including newspaper journalists from Malaysia, descended on the
small house, all determined to learn about the fruit vendor who shook the world.
Bouazizi's mother, Manoubia, tolerates the constant stream of visitors with the
patience of a proud, but grieving parent. Until recently, relatives said she
supplemented the family's income by working manual labor in farm fields for the
equivalent of $3.50 a day.
"I am proud of him, thank God he spoke out," she says, sitting within sight of
the now-iconic image of her smiling son. "He turned the world upside down," she
adds. "[But] he did not deserve to die."
Bouazizi was buried in a family cemetery, on a plot of land surrounded by rows
of cactus. Locals say his coffin was carried by a procession walking more than
10 miles on foot to this isolated spot in the countryside.
His grave is a simple white column of cement and stone. It is almost identical
to those of other members of his extended family with the exception of one
eye-catching symbol.
A large red-and-white Tunisian flag flutters from a pole at the foot of the
grave of the impoverished fruit vendor, whose last desperate act of fiery
protest, inspired millions to rise up and demand their rights.
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djdaniel150
Here it is folks! Proof that it takes only one human to change the world.
The US itself is seriously oppressed. More than a third of Americans are
seriously destitute and barely clinging to life. Yet in America, people are too
scared to rise up against their leaders. The wealthy elite control and ow...
more
5 minutes ago | Like | Report abuse
luckylemmons
uhmm dude he turned himself into burnt up human marshmallow....... I really
do not think torching myself is the way i would approach telling you I dont
like you. Human beings were not ment to be candles. Their are much more
intelligent ways to draw attention.. I also do not recomend teaching kids th...
more
4 hours ago | Like | Report abuse
Moogst
You don't get what dedication and bravery are. All I can say to you is ,
"Live free or die". A$$
1 hour ago | Like (3) | Report abuse
eadler
His act was a cry of desperation. He is a martyr for justice.The real heros
are the millions of people who have heard his cry and that of their fellow
citizens and have rose up against their oppressors.Many of the demonstators
come from the middle class who could have easily stayed in their reasonab...
more
7 hours ago | Like (14) | Report abuse
parvo00
over their what?
48 minutes ago | Like (1) | Report abuse
luckylemmons
perhaps you can teach the rest of the islamic nutjobs to torch themselves
as well? preferably over their?
4 hours ago | Like | Report abuse
Thoughtocrat
You need to create jobs in Tunisia? Why not give a "tax break" to the rich
and powerful? I am sure jobs will simply trickle down, as prosperity has been
trickling down on the Tunisians for decades. If you guys need any help with
these policies, please contact our Embassy and ask to speak to one of t... more
9 hours ago | Like (16) | Report abuse
kite005
memine ....perfect name for a reptard
1 hour ago | Like | Report abuse
faithful10
Actually, there is a "Bible-study University" in Tunis. I have friends who
teach there.
3 hours ago | Like | Report abuse
memine
Haha. Or tell the liberals you want to open an atheist center so you can
study...well, nothing. Watch the money flow in!
4 hours ago | Like | Report abuse
unbiasedread
May he rest in peace.
When will we see his effect on the Iranian people.
Rise up against your Ayatollas, thow them out of your country and get on
board with the world.
12 hours ago | Like (6) | Report abuse
Levend
Saudi Arabia first they are far more repressive.
8 hours ago | Like (4) | Report abuse
unbiasedread
May he rest in peace.
When will we see his effect on the Iranian people.
Rise up against your Ayatollas, thow them out of your country and get on
board with the world.
12 hours ago | Like (1) | Report abuse
BobHamilton1
Wikileaks also deserves some of the credit for starting the revolution
because it revealed secret cables detailing the lavish lifestyle of the ruling
family while many Tunisians could not afford to buy food.
13 hours ago | Like (10) | Report abuse
greenlyphe
This man is a martyr.. but the same action here in the U.S. would be
claimed lunacy
13 hours ago | Like (5) | Report abuse
greenlyphe
it was a revolt against the SYSTEM....
2 hours ago | Like | Report abuse
faithful10
It would be lunacy here because we have other ways of getting rid of
leaders we don't like...we can vote them out. Tunisians didn't have this right.
3 hours ago | Like (1) | Report abuse
Suggestions
@Korn25. I'm not arab decent but can actually say this.. He is just as
great as any leader like mandela/ghandi or martin Lurther... How many of these
leader have literally set themself on fire to denounce injustice? and spark a
fury within 5-6 nations with hundreds of million of people following his... more
13 hours ago | Like (4) | Report abuse
korn25
Neither am I and it's a matter of opinion in which neither of us can be
labelled wrong or right...I have no idea what his motives were but I guess his
act had the desired effect and he was finally heard but were his intentions to
set off the motion that we are seeing now? Not so sure, Others have ... more
13 hours ago | Like (1) | Report abuse
ablewalker
I'm surprised we haven't seen more self immolations down on Wall Street.
13 hours ago | Like (6) | Report abuse
Santosangre
We always hear the word "martyr" tossed around in the Arab world, but if
this man brings lasting change to the area, he will be the real thing. If there
is democratic change and reform brought to the area, he'll rightly be mentioned
in the same sentence as Ghandi.
14 hours ago | Like (3) | Report abuse
eadler
Not all martyrs succeed bring change - but he died defending his beliefs -
that government's job is to defend citizens basic rights, not abuse them.
7 hours ago | Like (1) | Report abuse
korn25
A sad an unfortunate story about the last desperate act of a man who
finally had enough. Having said that I don't think he can be compared with
visionaries and leaders such as Mandela, Gandhi, or Martin Luthur. I very much
doubt he had any idea of the ripples that his defiant act and subsequent
deat... more
14 hours ago | Like (3) | Report abuse
morron
I'm too sexy for my shirt.
16 hours ago | Like | Report abuse
CNNFERNANDO
Mr.Bouazizi is a real hero and the best example of giving your life for a
cause that he couldn't have imagine but that I'm sure he dreamt about at night.
Millions owe him recognition.
16 hours ago | Like (11) | Report abuse
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