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On December 17, 2010, the fruit vendor Mohamed Bouazizi was arrested by two police officers in the small Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid.
They confiscated the cart from which he was selling fruits and vegetables. The pretext was that he did not have permission to sell fruit, but in reality it was an attempt to extort him.
Bouazizi, 26, had a university education, but like many young people in Tunisia, she struggled to find a suitable job. When the police took the cart away, it was the drop that caused the cup to overflow.
Desperate, Bouazizi went to the governor demanding that his property be returned to him. He found no understanding.
– How do you think I should feed myself? Scream. Then he poured gasoline on himself and lit it. 18 days later he died of burns.
In Sidi Bouzid, a monument has been erected in honor of Mohamed Bouazizi and his fruit cart.
Photo: ANGUS MCDOWALL / Reuters
The dictator had to resign
When the news of Bouazizi broke, large demonstrations broke out across Tunisia.
Several protesters set themselves on fire, and despite brutal behavior by the police, the protests continued.
After a month, President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali had to go into exile. He was the first leader to be overthrown in what became known as the “Arab Spring.”
Large demonstrations broke out in Egypt, where former President Hosni Mubarak was forced to withdraw.
Hopes for a better future were also kindled in Libya, Syria and Yemen. People took to the streets to express their opinions on oppressive regimes.
The result was civil wars, bloody wars that still ravage countries.
Dreams of freedom, symbolized by a mural on Mohamed Bouazizi Square in the center of Sidi Bouzid, no longer affect the majority of residents.
Photo: FETHI BELAID / AFP
Led to free elections
As the only country in the Arab Spring, the protests in Tunisia led to real democracy.
Despite political assassinations and terrorist attacks, Tunisians can elect their leaders in free elections and are free to criticize their politicians.
Just five years after Bouazizi’s suicide, four Tunisian pro-democracy activists received the Nobel Peace Prize.
However, many look back on the events of ten years ago with disappointment at unfulfilled dreams.
Tunisia has sent more foreign fighters to Islamist wars than most of the others. Most of the immigrants who have tried to take the boat route to Italy this year are Tunisians.
“Something went wrong with the revolution,” Attia Athmouni told AFP. He is a retired philosophy professor who was at the forefront in 2010 and 2011.
Today an image of Mohamed Bouazizi adorns the wall of the post office in his hometown of Sidi Bouzid.
Photo: ANGUS MCDOWALL / Reuters
Economic crisis
Even before the corona pandemic, Tunisia was going through an economic crisis. This year, everything has gotten a lot worse. The economy appears to be contracting by 20 percent.
Among young people, unemployment is through the roof, especially in small towns like Sidi Bouzid, where Bouazizi lived.
– Nothing has changed. It’s only getting worse, “Ashraf Hani, 35, told The Guardian. Hani runs a newsstand in Sidi Bouzid and saw what happened when Bouazizi took his own life ten years ago.
In the first years after the revolution, Mohamed Bouazizi was a hero in Tunisia. A boulevard in the capital Tunis is named after him and at home in Sidi Bouzid, the main square is now called Place Mohamed Bouazizi.
In his hometown, a giant photo of him also hangs on a wall in front of the headquarters of the local authorities.
When the Guardian asks Fathiya Iman, 54, what she thinks of Bouazizi, she ignores the image.
– I’m cursing him. I’d like to get rid of him. He’s the one who ruined us, she says.
Mohamed Bouazizi’s close family no longer lives in Sidi Bouzid. They have immigrated to Canada and cut most ties with their home country.
Part of the Bouazizi family still remains in Sidi Bouzid. Qais Bouazizi, Mohamed’s cousin, says his last name was a symbol of Tunisian pride.
– Now the city of Sidi Bouzid and the surname Bouazizi feel like a curse, says the cousin.
