The Hill News

Many times throughout human history, the yearning for freedom has given rise to civil unrest and disorder.  So it was earlier this month in Tunisia.  So it is now in Egypt. 

On December 17, just hours after being harassed by local authorities, a young Tunisian street vendor named Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire.  It was a desperate protest against his country’s grinding unemployment and the abuse he suffered at the hands of an authoritarian regime.

Although the fire itself was quickly extinguished, the flames of anger and frustration spread across Tunisia.  On January 4, when Bouazizi died of his injuries, the resulting inferno brought down Tunisia’s longtime ruler, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Fueled by repression and unemployment, and spreading through Facebook and Twitter, the flames of anger and frustration reached Egypt.  There, with massive citizen revolt and huge new protests planned for this week, time is running short for long! time President Hosni Mubarak. 

Read more...