On the morning of Dec. 17, when other vendors say Ms. Hamdy tried to
confiscate Mr. Bouazizi’s fruit, and then slapped him in the face for
trying to yank back his apples, he became the hero — now the martyred
hero — and she became the villain in a remarkable swirl of events in
which Tunisians have risen up to topple a 23-year dictatorship and
march on, demanding radical change in their government.