*This article is fake… Kind of.
Self-immolation has become a popular, sort-of non-violent protest throughout Tunisia, Yemen, Algeria and of course, Jordan.
In an attempt to deter rioting in Jordan, which was sparked by a recent revolution and a regime downfall in Tunisia, Jordan Officials have declared that any protester who attempts to self-immolate will by extinguished, then burned to death.
A recent statement by King Abdullah II of Jordan declared that, “I love the people of Jordan as I love my own children. That is why any citizen of our great nation who attempts to burn themselves to death as a protest to our regime will be extinguished, bathed, and then burned again.”
Less than a month ago, a college-educated Tunisian man was reprimanded for selling produce on the street without a valid business permit. Shortly after his cart was destroyed and fines were levied, the man set himself on fire until death, in an anti-government demonstration. Since then, several citizens from Yemen, Algeria, and of course, Jordan, have taken to this protest strategy to make a point to their respective countries.
We asked a local citizen in Karak, a city in western Jordan, how he felt about self-immolation and how his government was dealing with the very real threat of the current regime’s downfall.
“I was actually going to self-immolate today. But when I found out the punishment for self-immolation was getting burned to death, I was like ‘No way!’ I’m not going to burn myself if the punishment is burning. I mean, have you seen the size of the fire they are using to burn attempted self-immolators? It’s huge! Way bigger than the one I was gonna use.”
It appears that the government’s threat of reprisal has halted, or at least stalled current self-immolation protests until the citizens build a larger self-immolation fire. At which point, the government will likely have to find a new tactic to stop the burning of their people. Or maybe they will again, just build a bigger fire.
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