On this day last year, a poor Tunisian street vendor, outraged by the humiliation he suffered at the hands of a municipal policewoman who decided to confiscate his cart, set himself on fire. His surprising act, unprecedented in the Arab world, led to the greatest Arab revolt since the Great Revolution of 1916 when Arabs revolted against Ottoman rule. Mohammad Bu Azizi surely didn't mean to start a revolution. He was simply protesting the apparent corruption and cruelty of the system. According to witnesses, he was slapped on the face by the policewoman and when he complained to the mayor, his compliant was arrogantly shrugged off.
Certainly, Bu Azizi didn't plan to send millions of Arabs on to the streets and overthrow decades-long oppressive regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen and inspire millions of others to rise in pursuit of freedom, justice and better living standards across the region. The Arab genie will never go back into the bottle.
The reaction of the Arab people to the spontaneous act of self-immolation of a poor Tunisian young man might have surprised some. But many had long known the prevailing condition in the Arab world could not have continued.
The region, save some exceptions, lagged behind almost all other parts of the world, in development, democracy and rule of law. Not only is unemployment rife and official corruption a way of life in most of those countries, but also most importantly the populations always felt they didn't have any say in the way they live. Presidents hold sham elections and rule with iron fist using state resources to enrich and empower their families and inner circle. Few were actually surprised by the abhorrent stories of corruption told after the fall of Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi's regimes.
The Arab Spring states are rich in natural and human resources. But they have suffered from chronic misuse of the wealth, and nepotism, which left tens of millions on the cruel margins of poverty and humiliated almost every day by the long arm of the Mukhabarat (intelligence services). The people have had enough.
Today, the region is on the threshold of a new era. For the first time in centuries, the people feel empowered to decide the future of their children. But all this epic sacrifice can be easily eroded. Emotions are high and can be exploited by different kinds of power-hungry forces, such as the Islamist parties in those countries, which in almost all the Arab Spring states jumped on the revolution bandwagon when it was apparent the regimes were on the descent. Many of those parties were allies of those corrupt regimes. Today, many in the region fear that the current revolutions are just bringing other oppressive regimes to power.
But the majority of us believe that the sacrifice of tens of thousands who spilled their blood in the name of freedom and dignity will not go in vain. The region will definitely not look back.
