After three months of revolt and revolution, it’s amazing to remember that this all began with a fruit vendor. On December 17, 2010, following an unsuccessful attempt to lodge a complaint with the government, 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in the small Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid. His self-immolation set off nationwide protests the next day. They spread to Egypt weeks later. And now popular movements have engulfed the wider Middle East and North Africa in what’s come to be known as the Arab Spring. At the heart of the revolution and revolt are the raw passions of people demanding justice and freedom. Many of the people in the following images may just be ordinary citizens on any other day, but in these moments, they’re emotions are extraordinary.
Clockwise from top left: AP Photo (3); AFP / Getty Images (3) Getty Images; Reuters / Landov
A protester runs down an alleyway behind the prime minister’s office on January 23 in Tunis, carrying a Che Guevara flag. Demonstrators traveled from the countryside to descend on the prime minister’s office, where they met with no resistance from the army.
Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
Angry protesters demand that Ben Ali’s party’s sign be removed from its headquarters.
Marco Salustro / Corbis
Screaming crowds protest against the Constitutional Democratic Rally in Tunis on January 18, 2011.
Marco Salustro / Corbis
Demonstrators demand that Ben Ali step down immediately, despite the announcement of a new election to take place in 60 days.
Marco Salustro / Corbis
Even the children were raging on January 23rd. Here, a young girl joins protesters outside the prime minister’s office in Tunis.
Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
Protesters run along Avenue Bourghiba in Tunis on January 20, 2011.
Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
This mural commemorating the revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak appears in the Zamalek neighborhood of Cairo.
Manoocher Deghati / AP Photo
An anti-government protester weeps during Islamic prayers in Tahrir Square in Cairo in January.
Chris Hondros / Getty Images
An Egyptian woman demonstrates outside the Lawyer’s Syndicate in Cairo on January 27, 2011.
Egyptians in Tahrir Square pray for victims killed during protests.
Miguel Medina / AFP / Getty Images
An anti-government protester is overcome with emotion after hearing that President Hosni Mubarak resigned February 11, 2011.
John Moore / Getty Images
Protesters in Tahrir Square celebrate on January 30, 2011, after hearing a false rumor that President Mubarak had left the country.
Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
A relative of Abdulrassul Hujairi mourns at his funeral in the village of Buri in Bahrain on March 21, 2011, two days after the Shiite man went missing. He disappeared during protests, and the people who found his body said it bore signs of torture.
Joseph Eid / AFP / Getty Images
An anti-government protester shouts at the burial of Ahmed Abdullah Ahsan on March 19, 2011. Ahsan was killed when military forces cleared the Pearl Roundabout in Bahrain.
James Lawler Duggan / Reuters / Landov
Shiite anti-government protesters chant in Manama, Bahrain, on February 18, 2011.
Hassan Ammar / AP Photo
Bahrainis yell during the funeral of Ahmed Farhan, a 29 year old who was killed in Sitra, on March 18, 2011. He was killed hours after the king declared martial law in response to escalating protests.
Sergey Ponomarev / AP Photo
A man prays for injured demonstrators after riot police stormed an anti-government protest camp in Manama and fought protesters in the street, killing four people.
Hamad Mohammed / Reuters / Landov
Anti-government protesters celebrate retaking the Pearl Roundabout in Manama on February 19, 2011.
Caren Firouz / Retuers / Landov
Hordes of anti-government Yemenis demonstrate in Sana'a on March 11, 2011.
Ahmad Gharabli / AFP / Getty Images
A supporter of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh participates in a rally in Sana'a on March 3, 2011.
Ahmad Gharabli / AFP / Getty Images
An anti-government protesters shouts during a demonstration in Sana'a on March 26.
Ahmad Gharabli / AFP / Getty Images
A little boy joins a demonstration against Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on March 26, 2011.
Jewel Samad / AFP / Getty Images
A mob of Yemeni protesters demand the resignation of President Saleh in Sana'a on April 2, 2011.
Ahmad Gharabli / AFP / Getty Images
A Yemeni soldier who defected to the opposition joins an anti-government demonstration on March 31, 2011.
Ahmad Gharabli / AFP / Getty Images
Yemenis protest against the regime in Sana'a on March 6, 2011, a day after the president dismissed opposition calls for his resignation.
Ahmad Gharabli / AFP / Getty Images
A little girl in Sana'a, Yemen, shows off her hands, which say “leave you butcher” in Arabic.
Ahmad Gharabli / AFP / Getty Images
A Libyan woman protests against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Benghazi on February 25, 2011. The placard in the background in Arabic reads “The people want the leader to step down.”
Hussein Malla / AP Photo
Protesters demonstrate outside a hotel during a meeting between African heads of state and Libyan rebel leaders in Benghazi on April 11, 2011. Rebels reject any mediation if it does not include the removal of Gaddafi.
Marwan Naamani / AFP / Getty Images
Anti-Gaddafi demonstrators mobilize in Benghazi on March 4, 2011.
Hussein Malla / AP Photo
One of many children swept up in the protests, this little anti-Gaddafi protester's face is painted in the colors of the old Libyan flag during a protest in Benghazi on March 1, 2011.
Hussein Malla / AP Photo
Anti-Gaddafi protesters demand change in Benghazi.
Nichole Sobecki / Corbis
Anti-government protesters flash victory signs while they protest in the city of Dara'a, Syria on March 23.
Hussein Malla / AP Photo
A demonstration in the Syrian city of Homs on April 18, 2011.
Reuters / Landov
Anti-government protesters flood the streets of Damascus on March 25, 2011.
