Middle East: Discussion

[Guest]

The uprising in Tunisia began with a fruit seller being slapped by a police officer. This particular fruit seller was an educated computer science graduate with no opportunities for employment and to keep bread on his family's table (7 siblings) took to the marketplace. Mohammed Bouaziz, 26, was ordered to pack up his street cart and he snapped. He went to the governors office and demanded an appointment threatening to set himself ablaze if the governor did not meet with him. He was turned away and took out his threat on December 17th.



Millions of angry Tunisians responded having been long sufferers of youth unemployment,a brutal and corrupt police force and soaring inflation. A revolution was started fueled by a steady stream of text messages, Twitter and Facebook updates. Dictator President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali fled the country. The people had endured, spoken and acted.