Images of revolution "Images are like weapons. They can help topple a regime." Ali al-Bouazizi, political analyst. The uprisings that have shaken the Arab world were galvanised by photographs and v...
Ali Bouazizi
political activist
Ali Bouazizi is a political and human rights activist. He participated actively in the first wave of Tunisian protests in 2008, during which he was arrested and spent a period in prison. On 17 December 2010 he videod on his mobile phone the self-immolation of the street vendor Mohammed Bouzazi in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid. He then posted the video on Facebook. He was the first person to speak live on Al Jazeera on 17 December 2010 about the then apparently insignificant incident and he was the first person to mediatise the associated spontaneous demonstrations in support of and sympathy for Mohammed Bouzazi. The events of 17 December 2010 in Sidi Bouzid set in motion a wave of political protests that resulted in the flight of Tunisian president Ben Ali on 14 January 2011 and the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt on 11 February 2011.