Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi ( ar, طارق الطيب محمد البوعزيزي, Ṭāriq aṭ-Ṭayib Muḥammad al-Būʿazīzī; 29 March 1984 – 4 January 2011) was a
street vendor who set himself on fire on 17 December 2010 in
Sidi Bouzid
Sidi Bouzid ( ar, سيدي بوزيد '), sometimes called ''Sidi Bou Zid'' or ''Sīdī Bū Zayd'', is a city in Tunisia and is the capital of Sidi Bouzid Governorate in the centre of the country. Following the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi in ...
, Tunisia, which became a catalyst for the
Tunisian Revolution
The Tunisian Revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance. It included a series of street demonstrations which took place in Tunisia, and led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El ...
and the wider
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...
against
autocratic regimes. His
self-immolation
The term self-immolation broadly refers to acts of altruistic suicide, otherwise the giving up of one's body in an act of sacrifice. However, it most often refers specifically to autocremation, the act of sacrificing oneself by setting oneself ...
was in response to the confiscation of his wares and the harassment and humiliation inflicted on him by a municipal official and her aides.
Simmering public anger and sporadic violence intensified following Bouazizi's death, leading the then-president of Tunisia,
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...
to step down on 14 January 2011, after 23 years in power.
The success of the
Tunisian protests inspired protests in several other Arab countries, plus several non-Arab countries. The protests included several men who emulated Bouazizi's act of self-immolation, in an attempt to bring an end to their own autocratic governments. Those men and Bouazizi were hailed by ''New York Times'' commentators as "heroic martyrs of a new North African and Middle Eastern revolution".
In 2011, Bouazizi was posthumously awarded the
Sakharov Prize jointly along with four others for his and their contributions to "historic changes in the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
".
The Tunisian government honored him with a postage stamp. ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
named Bouazizi as "Person of 2011", ''
The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper ...
s
Amotz Asa-El named him "Person of the Jewish Year 5771" and "The Protester" was named
''Time'' 2011 Person of the Year.
Early life
Mohamed Bouazizi, who was known locally as "Babousa",
was born in
Sidi Bouzid
Sidi Bouzid ( ar, سيدي بوزيد '), sometimes called ''Sidi Bou Zid'' or ''Sīdī Bū Zayd'', is a city in Tunisia and is the capital of Sidi Bouzid Governorate in the centre of the country. Following the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi in ...
, Tunisia, on 29 March 1984. His father, a construction worker in
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
, died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
when Bouazizi was three, and his mother married Bouazizi's uncle some time later.
Along with his six siblings,
Bouazizi was educated in a
one-room country school in Sidi Salah, a small village from
Sidi Bouzid
Sidi Bouzid ( ar, سيدي بوزيد '), sometimes called ''Sidi Bou Zid'' or ''Sīdī Bū Zayd'', is a city in Tunisia and is the capital of Sidi Bouzid Governorate in the centre of the country. Following the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi in ...
.
Although several media outlets reported that Bouazizi had a
university degree
An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions commonly offer degrees at various levels, usually including unde ...
,
his sister, Samia Bouazizi, stated that he had never
graduated from high school, but that it was something he had wanted for both himself and his sisters.
With his uncle in poor health and unable to work regularly,
Bouazizi had worked various jobs since he was ten,
and in his late teens he quit school in order to work full-time.
His father left a three-
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...
plot of land whose produce hardly provided for the family. His uncle tried to build a farm that uses
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
water by taking a
loan from a bank to finance the project. With Mohamed working on the farm, the uncle fell in debt, and subsequently, the
bank took hold of the land. It was during that time that the young man became a
street vendor.
Bouazizi lived in a modest
stucco home, a 20-minute walk from the centre of
Sidi Bouzid
Sidi Bouzid ( ar, سيدي بوزيد '), sometimes called ''Sidi Bou Zid'' or ''Sīdī Bū Zayd'', is a city in Tunisia and is the capital of Sidi Bouzid Governorate in the centre of the country. Following the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi in ...
,
a rural town in Tunisia burdened by
corruption and suffering an
unemployment rate
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...
estimated at 30%.
According to his mother, he applied to join
the army, but was refused, and several subsequent job applications also resulted in rejection.
He supported his mother, uncle, and younger siblings, including paying for one of his sisters to attend university, by earning approximately per month selling
produce
Produce is a generalized term for many farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables (grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered ''produce''). More specifically, the term ''produce'' often implies that the products are fresh and g ...
on the street in Sidi Bouzid.
He was also working toward the goal of buying or renting a
pickup truck for his work.
A close friend of Bouazizi said he "was a very well-known and popular man who would give free fruit and vegetables to very poor families".
Confiscation of wares and self-immolation
According to friends and family, local police officers targeted and mistreated Bouazizi for years, including during his childhood, regularly confiscating his small wheelbarrow of produce;
but Bouazizi had no other way to make a living, so he continued to work as a street vendor. Around on 16 December 2010, he had contracted approximately in debt to buy the produce he was to sell the following day. On the morning of 17 December, he started his workday at
Just after , the police began harassing him again, ostensibly because he did not have a vendor's permit.
However, while some sources state that
street vending is illegal in
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
,
and others that Bouazizi lacked a required permit to sell his wares,
according to the head of Sidi Bouzid's state office for employment and independent work, no permit is needed to sell from a cart.
Bouazizi did not have the funds to bribe police officials to allow his street vending to continue.
Similarly, two of Bouazizi's siblings accused authorities of attempting to
extort
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, al ...
money from their brother,
and during an interview with
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was esta ...
, 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."
Bouazizi's family claims he was publicly humiliated, that a 45-year-old female
municipal
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
official, Faida Hamdi,
slapped him in the face, spat at him, confiscated his electronic
weighing scale
A scale or balance is a device used to measure weight or mass. These are also known as mass scales, weight scales, mass balances, and weight balances.
The traditional scale consists of two plates or bowls suspended at equal distances from a ...
s, and tossed aside his produce cart
It was also stated that she made a slur against his deceased father.
Bouazizi's family says her sex made his humiliation worse.
Faida Hamdi
and her brother claimed in interviews that she did not slap Bouazizi or otherwise mistreat him. An unnamed eyewitness referred to by ''
Asharq Al-Awsat
''Asharq Al-Awsat'' ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, Aš-Šarq al-ʾAwsaṭ, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted ...
'' claimed not to have seen Hamdi slap Bouazizi.
Both Bouazizi's mother and the eyewitness who spoke with ''
Asharq Al-Awsat
''Asharq Al-Awsat'' ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, Aš-Šarq al-ʾAwsaṭ, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted ...
'' stated that Hamdi's aides had kicked and beaten him after confiscating his fruit cart.
Faida Hamdi states it might have happened,
and ''
Asharq Al-Awsat
''Asharq Al-Awsat'' ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, Aš-Šarq al-ʾAwsaṭ, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted ...
'' denies it did.
Bouazizi, angered by the confrontation, went to the governor's office to complain
and to ask for his scales back.
The governor refused to see or listen to him, even after Bouazizi was quoted as saying, "If you don't see me, I'll burn myself."
Bouazizi then acquired a can of gasoline from a nearby gas station and returned to the governor's office. While standing in the middle of traffic, he shouted, "How do you expect me to make a living?"
He then doused himself with the fuel, and set himself alight with a match at local time, less than an hour after the altercation.
![Tunis Hôpital polytraumatisme](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Tunis_H%C3%B4pital_polytraumatisme.JPG)
According to Bouazizi's sister, whose information was based on details relayed from her uncle who was present at the scene, people immediately panicked when he caught fire, and one of them tried to douse him with water.
Bouazizi had suffered burns on over 90% of his body before locals managed to stop the flames. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he was placed in an intensive care unit. He was subsequently transferred to a second, larger hospital in
Sfax
Sfax (; ar, صفاقس, Ṣafāqis ) is a city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD849 on the ruins of Berber Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate (about 955,421 inhabitants in 2014), and a Mediterrane ...
, more than away, and then to the Ben Arous Burn and Trauma Centre in the capital, away.
On 31 December 2010, doctors reported that Bouazizi was in stable condition, and that he was showing a positive possibility of recovery.
[ Despite the optimistic prognosis, however, Bouazizi remained comatose until his death. Bouazizi was visited in the hospital by then-President ]Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...
. According to Bouazizi's mother, Ben Ali promised to send him to France for medical treatment, but no such transfer ever occurred, prompting Menobia Bouazizi to criticize him for his unfulfilled promises.
Death and funeral
Bouazizi died on 4 January 2011, at local time.
It is estimated that more than 5,000 people participated in the funeral procession that began in Sidi Bouzid and continued through to Bouazizi's native village, though police did not allow the procession to pass near the spot at which Bouazizi had burned himself. From the crowd, many were heard chanting "Farewell, Mohamed, we will avenge you. We weep for you today. We will make those who caused your death weep." He was buried at Garaat Bennour cemetery, 15 kilometres (10 mi) from Sidi Bouzid. His grave was described by Al-Jazeera as "simple" and surrounded by cacti, olive, and almond trees. In addition, a Tunisian flag
The flag of Tunisia is a rectangular panel of red color with an aspect ratio of 2:3. In the center of the cloth in a white circle is placed a red crescent, surrounding a red five-pointed star on three sides. Bey Tunisia Hussein II decided to crea ...
flies next to the site. Tom Chesshyre also describes his tomb after visiting it: small, white, by a row of cacti, and with a simple inscription: "Martyr Mohamed Bouazizi. Peace for his life. And in the next life, have peace as well".
Investigation
An investigation was launched following Bouazizi's self-immolation to find the details leading up to his actions. On 20 December 2010, it was reported that Faida Hamdi, the officer who accosted Bouazizi the day of his immolation, was suspended along with the secretary-general (governor) of Sidi Bouzid, but this was subsequently denied by the latter. Some time later, Hamdi was arrested on orders from President Ben Ali and held in an unspecified town. A brother of Hamdi later stated that she had been arrested and detained twice, the first time following Ben Ali's visit to Bouazizi in the hospital and subsequent meeting with Bouazizi's mother and sister at his presidential palace. Hamdi's brother then says his sister and her aides were released following a short detention and the closing of the investigation which "confirmed her innocence". He said her second arrest was "in response to the demands of the Tunisian protesters", and that the Tunisian security authorities informed him that she was being held only for her own protection and would be released once the protesting ended.
According to Bouazizi's mother, Bouazizi chose to take this action because he had been humiliated, not because of the family's poverty. "It got to him deep inside, it hurt his pride," she said, referring to the police harassment. One of Bouazizi's sisters stated during an interview with ''Asharq Al-Awsat
''Asharq Al-Awsat'' ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, Aš-Šarq al-ʾAwsaṭ, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted ...
'' that their family intends to take legal action against all involved, "whether this is the municipal officers that slapped and insulted him, or the mayor horefused to meet him".
On 19 April, the case against Hamdi was dropped after Bouazizi's mother withdrew the family's complaint against her. She stated "It was a difficult but well-thought-out decision to avoid hatred and ... ohelp reconcile the residents of Sidi Bouzid." Hamdi had maintained her innocence, telling the court she did not slap Bouazizi, while her lawyer said the matter was "purely a political affair". Bouazizi's brother Salem supported the decision, saying "All the money in the world can't replace the loss of Mohamed who sacrificed himself for freedom and for dignity." Large crowds of people outside the courtroom also appeared to have been satisfied by the Bouazizi family's decision with some claiming Hamdi was being used as a scapegoat.
Protests
Outraged by the events that led to Bouazizi's self-immolation, protests
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...
began in Sidi Bouzid within hours, building for more than two weeks, with attempts by police to quiet the unrest serving only to fuel what was quickly becoming a violent and deadly movement. After Bouazizi's death, the protests became widespread, moving into the more affluent areas and eventually into the capital. The anger and violence became so intense that President Ben Ali fled Tunisia with his family on 14 January 2011, trying first to go to Paris, but was refused refuge by the French government
The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who i ...
. They were eventually welcomed into Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
under "a long list of conditions" (such as being barred from participation in the media and politics), ending his 23-year rule and sparking "angry condemnation" among Saudis. In Tunisia, unrest persisted as a new regime took over, leaving many citizens of Tunisia feeling as though their needs were still being ignored.
Aftermath and legacy
Many Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
s in the Middle East and North Africa regard Bouazizi as a hero and inspiration. He is credited with galvanising the frustrations of the region's youth against their governments into the mass demonstrations, revolts, and revolutions that have become known as the Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...
. One year on, Tunisian writer and academic Larbi Sadiki
Larbi Sadiki is a Tunisian writer, political scientist and professor of political science and democratization at the College of Arts and Sciences oQatar University He was formerly a scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center and lecturer at Univers ...
asserted that Bouazizi's self-immolation "changed the course of Arab political history", achieving the "breakthrough in the fight against autocracy". However, he also wrote it would take years before the act and the subsequent chain of events that followed were "profoundly grasped by historians and social scientists".
Bouazizi is considered a martyr by the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) of Tunisia. Tunisian film director Mohamed Zran
Mohamed Zran (born 23 August 1959) is a Tunisian film director and screenwriter. His film '' Le casseur de pierres'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.
Filmography
* ''Virgule
Virgule ('twig') ma ...
plans on making a feature film about Bouazizi, describing him as "a symbol for eternity". Tarak Ben Ammar
Tarak Ben Ammar ( ar, طارق بن عمّار; born June 12, 1949) is a Tunisian-French film producer and distributor; the owner of French production and distribution company Quinta Communications. He is famous for his interest in artistic movies ...
, another Tunisian film director, intends to make a film on Bouazizi as well, stating he is "a hero for us as Tunisians and the Arab world as a whole".
Since suicide is forbidden in Islam, Bouazizi's self-immolation created controversy among scholarly Muslim circles. While Al-Azhar University, the most prestigious religious institution in the Sunni Muslim world, issued a '' fatwa'' (a religious opinion) stating "suicide violates Islam even when it is carried out as a social or political protest", influential Egyptian cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi
Yusuf al-Qaradawi ( ar, يوسف القرضاوي, translit=Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī; or ''Yusuf al-Qardawi''; 9 September 1926 – 26 September 2022) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of ...
spoke sympathetically of Bouazizi.
On 4 February 2011, Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë (; born 30 May 1950) is a French retired politician who served as Mayor of Paris from 2001 to 2014. A member of the Socialist Party (PS), he previously served in the National Assembly from 1981 to 1986 and Senate from 1995 unt ...
, the mayor of Paris, announced that, as a tribute to honour Bouazizi, a square in Paris will be named after him; the Mohamed-Bouazizi Square was unveiled four days later. On 17 February, the main square in Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
that was previously called "November 7", after the date of Ben Ali's take-over in 1987, was renamed "January 14", though some had suggested it should honor Bouazizi (though a major roadway leading to the city's airport was renamed for him). Bouazizi was posthumously awarded the 2011 Sakharov Prize as one of "five representatives of the Arab people, in recognition and support of their drive for freedom and human rights". On 17 December, a cart statue was unveiled in Sidi Bouzid in honor of Bouazizi. Tunisia's first elected president Moncef Marzouki
Mohamed Moncef Marzouki ( ar, محمد المنصف المرزوقي; ''Muhammad al-Munṣif al-Marzūqī'', born 7 July 1945) is a Tunisian politician who served as the fifth president of Tunisia from 2011 to 2014. Through his career he has been ...
attended the ceremony, stating "Thank you to this land, which has been marginalised for centuries, for bringing dignity to the entire Tunisian people." Also, in Sidi Bouzid, as well as in the capital city of Tunis, both cities' respective main streets were renamed, "Boulevard Mohamed Bouazizi". The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
's ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' newspaper named Bouazizi person of the year for 2011.
"By Fire", a story by Moroccan author Tahar Ben Jelloun
Tahar Ben Jelloun ( ar, الطاهر بن جلون; born in Fes, Morocco, 1 December 1944) is a Moroccan writer. All of his work is written in French although his first language is Darija. He became known for his 1985 novel ''L’Enfant de Sab ...
inspired by this incident, was published in ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' edition of 16 September 2013. It is a fictional treatment; some details in the story differ from the factual account. An interview with the author about his story was posted to ''The New Yorker'' "This Week in Fiction" on 9 September 2013.
On 17 December 2015, the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet
The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet (Arabic: الرباعي التونسي للحوار الوطني, French: ''Quartet du dialogue national'') is a group of four civil society organizations that were central mediators in the effort to conso ...
, the Nobel Peace Prize laureates of that year, as well as other civil society organizations, celebrated Mohamed Bouazizi and the start of the Arab spring five years after his death in a ceremony in Sidi Bouzid.
A Guardian article in 2020 noted that many Tunisians had become disillusioned at the bleak economic situation in the country, and "cursed" Bouazizi's name and legacy.
Related incidents
Bouazizi's actions triggered a number of self-immolations, in protests emulating his own, in several other countries in the Greater Middle East
The Greater Middle East, is a political term, introduced in March 2004 in a paper by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as part of the U.S. administration's preparatory work for the Group of Eight summit of June 2004, denoting a v ...
and Europe. In Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
in particular, protests against rising food prices
Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food.
Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing ...
and spreading unemployment have resulted in many self-immolations. The first reported case following Bouazizi's death was that of Mohsen Bouterfif, a 37-year-old father of two, who set himself on fire when the mayor of Boukhadra
Boukhadra ( ar, بوخضرة) is a town and commune in Tébessa Province in north-eastern Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital ...
(in Tébessa Province
Tébessa ( ar, ولاية تبسة) is a province (''wilayah'') of Algeria. Tébessa is also the name of the capital, which in ancient times it was known as ''Theveste''. Another important city is El Ouenza. Tébessa is located only 20 kilomete ...
) refused to meet with him and others regarding employment and housing requests on 13 January 2011. According to a report in '' El-Watan'', the mayor challenged him, saying if he had courage he would immolate himself by fire as Bouazizi had done. He died on 24 January. In nearby El Oued Province
El Oued ( ar, ولاية الوادي, ber, ⴻⵍ oⵓⴻⴷ) is a Saharan province of Algeria (n° 39) dominated by ''Oued Souf''. It was named after its eponymous capital. Notable towns include El Oued itself and El M'Ghair, Djamaa and Guem ...
, Maamir Lotfi, a 36-year-old unemployed father of six, also denied a meeting with the governor, burned himself in front of the town hall of El Oued
El Oued ( ar, اﻟﻮادي, ber, Suf meaning ''the River''), Souf or Oued Souf is a city, and the capital of El Oued Province, in Algeria. The oasis town is watered by an underground river, hence its name is El Oued which enables date palm cult ...
on 17 January, dying on 12 February. Abdelhafid Boudechicha, a 29-year-old day laborer who lived with his parents and five siblings, burned himself in Medjana
Medjana is a town and commune (municipality) in Bordj Bou Arréridj Province, Algeria. It is the (approximative) location the Ancient city and bishopric Vardimissa, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see.
According to the 1998 census it has ...
on 28 January over employment and housing issues. He died the following day.
In the six months immediately after Mohamed Bouazizi's death on 4 January 2011, at least 107 Tunisians set themselves on fire. The men who self-immolated were mostly young unmarried men from poor, rural areas, and had only basic education. Amenallah Messaadi, who collated the figures and is head of the Burns Centre, said that people "should stop adding fuel to the fire".
In Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, Abdou Abdel-Moneim Jaafar, a 49-year-old restaurant owner, set himself alight in front of the Egyptian Parliament
The Parliament of Egypt is the bicameral legislature of the Arab Republic of Egypt. It is composed of an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the House of Representatives).
The Parliament is located in Cairo, Egypt's capital. Under th ...
. His act of protest helped instigate weeks of protest and, later, the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.
Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...
on 11 February 2011. In Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, an unidentified 65-year-old man died on 21 January 2011, after setting himself on fire in the town of Samtah
Samtah (also Romanized as Şāmitah or Samta; in Arabic صامطة) is a town and sub-division in Jizan Province, in southwestern Saudi Arabia.National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. GeoNames database entry.search Accessed 13 May 2011.
In March ...
, Jizan
Jazan ( ar, جازان, Jāzān), also spelled ''Jizan'' ( ar, جيزان, Jīzān), ''Gizan'' or ''Gazan'', is a port city and the capital of Jizan Region, which lies in the southwest corner of Saudi Arabia and directly north of the border with ...
. This was apparently the kingdom's first known case of self-immolation.
Although these cases, with the exception of Egypt, did not garner the same kind of popular reaction that Bouazizi's case did in Tunisia, the Algerian, Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
i, and Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
ian governments experienced significant protests and made major concessions in response to them. As such, these men and Bouazizi were hailed by some as "heroic martyrs of a new Middle Eastern revolution".
On 11 February 2011, in a case very similar to Bouazizi's, Noureddine Adnane, a 27-year-old Moroccan street vendor, set himself on fire in Palermo, Sicily, in protest of the confiscation of his wares and the harassment that was inflicted on him by municipal officials. He died five days later. In Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
, Kambiz Roustay, a 36-year-old asylum seeker
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...
from Iran, set himself on fire on Dam Square
Dam Square or the Dam () is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the best-known and most important locations in the city and the country.
Location and description
...
in protest of being refused asylum. Roustay had fled the country for publishing works undermining the regime, and feared being tortured by the Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian government upon his return.
See also
* 2011 Algerian self-immolations
In 2011, as the widely reported protests sparked off by Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in Tunisia began to have a clear impact on the Tunisian government, a wave of self-immolations swept Algeria. These individual acts of protest mostly took ...
* List of political self-immolations
This is a list of notable people who committed suicide by setting themselves on fire for political reasons. Non-political self-immolations are not included in the list.
List Before 1900
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s ...
* Thích Quảng Đức
Thích Quảng Đức (; vi-hantu, , 1897 – 11 June 1963; born Lâm Văn Túc) was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11 June 1963. Quảng Đức was protesting the pers ...
, set himself on fire in 1963 in protest of persecution of Buddhists in South Vietnam
* Romas Kalanta
Romas Kalanta (22 February 1953 – 14 May 1972) was a 19-year-old Lithuanian high school student known for his public self-immolation protesting Soviet regime in Lithuania. Kalanta's death provoked the largest post-war riots in Lithuania and in ...
, set himself on fire in 1972 leading to riots in Communist Lithuania
* Jan Palach
Jan Palach (; 11 August 1948 – 19 January 1969) was a Czech student of history and political economics at Charles University in Prague. His self-immolation was a political protest against the end of the Prague Spring resulting from the 1968 in ...
and Ryszard Siwiec
Ryszard Siwiec (; 7 March 1909 – 12 September 1968) was a Polish accountant and former Home Army resistance member who was the first person to commit suicide by self-immolation in protest against the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. Alth ...
, set themselves on fire in 1968 in separate incidents, both in protest against the suppression of the Prague Spring
References
External links
Bouazizi's funeral procession
(Video). nos.nl, 6 January 2011.
* Davies, Wyre.
Doubt over Tunisian 'martyr' who triggered revolution
" ''BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. 16 June 2011.
* Hernando de Sot