Thank you Jonathan Freedland!

Many thanks to the excellent Jonathan Freedland for his mention of Bouazizi in his piece in The Guardian on the part the internet played in telling the world about Muhammad Al Bouazizi's act.

It's also an excellent piece in general so do click and have a read and maybe leave a comment promoting the campaign!!!

Jonathan was also kind enough to retweet a message I put out about the campaign in the first day or so after I started all this leading to numerous hits on the website - grateful thanks for that too.

Time Magazine gives the title 'Person of the Year' to the individual who 'for better or for worse...has done the most to influence the events of the year'.

They are clear that the title should not in itself be a prize, but an acknowledgement of influence on world events. Recent winners include Mark Zuckerberg, Ben Bernanke and Barack Obama.

I think - and I know its only February - but in 2011 that title should be given to a Tunisian street vendor called Muhammad Al Bouazizi. It would be a fitting tribute to one man who has clearly already influenced the world in ways he could never have imagined.

For those who don't know, and you can read much fuller accounts here and here, (and from Time Magazine itself here), Mr Bouazizi was a fruit seller in a small provincial town called Sidi Bouzid. Following a confrontation with a local government inspector on Dec 17, and several attempts at getting anyone in authority to listen to his complaints, Mr Bouazizi set fire to himself in protest at his treatment and the treatment of millions like him, in front of the gates of the Governors office.

He died on Jan 4th from his injuries. In the intervening time, rioting, sparked by Mr Bouazizi's act, had started in cities across the country. Before he died he was visited in hospital by President Zine el-Abidine Ben, and 10 days after his death, the President fled the country.

As we now know, this is nowhere near the end of it. A second dictatorship has now fallen in Egypt (the world watches to see how the military will make handle the transition to, hopefully, full democracy). Meantime, protest movements gather pace in Algeria, in Yemen, in Syria, and across the Middle East. And it is still only 2 months since Mr Bouazizi's act started all this.

Of course, he could not have known where his protest could lead. But that is not the point. One man's selfless act has changed the Middle East more in 2 months than decades of diplomacy have managed. And I think his influence and memory must be marked.

I am sending the following note to the Managing Editor of Time Magazine, Richard Stengal. If you feel you would like to send a similar note, please feel free to copy the note and forward it to Time by clicking here. Also please sign the on line petition by clicking here

Dear Mr Stengal

While it is only February, before he is forgotten, I would like to nominate Tunisian market trader Muhammad Al Bouazizi as your Person of the Year for 2011.

Your criteria is 'the person who has done most to influence events of the year'. Here we stand only in February and already we see his selfless protest leading to the collapse of two dictatorships, and popular uprisings across the Middle East as the people demand democracy and influence over their own destiny. It is hard to imagine any individual who could do more in the coming months to change the course of an entire region, if not the global political map itself.

It would be all too easy to forget, as events unfold on a daily basis, that all this started thanks to the actions of a single man, selling fruit on a street, in a small provinicial Tunisian town.

The 'Time' award is of course not a prize; but it should be a marker for the world to acknowledge the acts of others. And Mr Bouazizi, in a single act, has done more than Presidents, Prime Minsters, Diplomats and opinion leaders have achieved in 30 years in the Middle East.

Please, over coming months, don't forget him, and make him your Person of the Year

Yours sincerely

Richard Morris

Thank You Lib Dem Voice!

The good people at Lib Dem Voice yesterday published an opinion piece for me about the Campaign and we've seen an uplift on the website ever since. Thank you for all the interest - and keep those letters to Time and signing the petition going.

New Facebook page

We have a new Bouazizi4time Facebook page visible. Please visit it and register comments there as well as here - and do still visit the petition and most of all WRITE TO TIME

The Economist Acknowledges Bouazizi

The Economist Magazine has consistently acknowledged the role of Muhammad Al Bouazizi as the original stimulus for what is happening in the Middle East and it has done so again this week in its leader column. They also acknowledged his role when he died and on frequent other occasions as well.



Meantime The Guardian has published an interactive map of the Middle East showing what is occurring where - an excellent tool to see where the effects of Muhammad Al Bouazizi's actions have now led. His influence has been, without question, astounding.

Paris to honour Bouazizi

The Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, has announced that a square or road will be re-named in honour of Mohammad Al Bouazizi in the French capital. Details of the announcement can be found at the Tunis Afrique Press website by clicking here

Sadness of Copy Cat actions across Middle East

I read over the weekend about some of the many copycat actions young people across the Middle East have engaged in, emulating the acts of Mohammad Al Bouazizi to bring the world's attention to the situation in their own countries. The above photo is of an incident involving a young man called Issan Nadir, in Morocco (he thankfully survived). There is an excellent article outlining further cases here

It gave me some thought as to whether the campaign could be interpreted as encouraging or endorsing such actions - which of course is not my intention at all.

But the fact remains that Muhammad Al Bouazizi's original actions have had the most profound effect - the news unfolding from Libya today is quite astounding, (with even unconfirmed reports that Gadaffi may have fled to Venezuela). And the Time award is measured by the degree of change a person's actions have resulted in. And so Muhammad Al Bouazizi clearly merits this acknowledgement.

But to be clear. I am not glorifying acts of self immolation and I watch in sadness and despair at the violence that is unfolding before us.