Despite the difficulties and the dangers of protesting for change, the Tunisian and Egyptian people have demonstrated in large numbers and shown that ordinary people can bring about change even after thirty years of dictatorship.
Arabs everywhere identified with Mohamed Bouazizi.
When the 26-year-old Tunisian graduate – despairing of getting a decent job and abused by the police – set fire to himself in a public square, his story resonated far beyond his provincial town.