On 17 December 2010 disturbances er

On 17 December 2010 disturbances erupted in Tunisia after Mohamed Bouazizi, a young unemployed high school graduate, who sold fruit and vegetables on a street stall for a living, immolated himself in protest after authorities had beaten him and impeded him from exercising his unlicensed activity. His act crystallized and incarnated the Tunisians’ feelings of humiliation and the lack of justice to which they had been subjected by one of the most brutal Arab authoritarian regimes that thrived on its infamous corruption and nepotism. A spontaneous nationwide uprising ensued, resulting in the downfall of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali