Tunisia: Man sets himself on fire outside capital’s synagogue
A man set himself on fire in front of the Grand Synagogue in the Tunisian capital on January 24th, in what was thought to be a protest against the conflict in Gaza.
According to AP, the Tunis police opened fire on the burning man as he walked towards them, killing him where he stood.
A police officer and passerby were hospitalised with burns, according to the Interior Ministry, but no details were released about the man’s identity or possible motive.
While the fallout from this incident is yet to be seen, the significance in many minds is its analogy to the death of Mohamed Bouazizi, the man who sparked the Arab revolutions in 2011.
A young merchant, continually harried by police asking for bribes due to his lack of a business licence, Bouazizi tragically self immolated in front of a government building when his vendor scales were confiscated.
Protests began within hours, and surged in intensity over two weeks, mushrooming across the country.
The president Ben Ali fled Tunisia on January 14th, ten days after the Bouazizi’s death, inspiring Arabs around the world to demonstrate against their own oppressive regimes.
Crucial to revolution was the response from the international media, who jumped on the story, leaving Ben Ali powerless to stop the gathering storm with a domestic media blackout.
The differences are already stark – there has been no reported protests, little international coverage and understanding of the man’s motive.
Given the current political climate, and Tunisia’s lack of relations with Israel, it is likely the man was a Palestinian protestor, as was the national guardsman who killed five people at a synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba in 2023.
While president Kais Saied is no friend of the Israelis, the autocratic ruler is fastidious in retaining control over his country and the levers of power.
According to Paris-based Le Monde, after making a U-turn on a law criminalising normalizing relations with Israel in 2023, Saied said in a somewhat acrobatic way that any government collaboration with Israel is “high treason”, according to article 60 of the penal code.
However, the article in fact decrees the death penalty for any Tunisian found guilty of communicating intelligence with a foreign power.
AP, Le Monde
