Islam and the Tunisian uprising

"As for the recent self-immolations in North Africa, As'ad AbuKhalil said they are about sought-after change, not about religion.  "Western media still highly exaggerate the role and influence of Islam in political behavior and actions (and even violence by) Arabs and Muslims," said AbuKhalil, a political science professor at California State University, Stanislaus, and a blogger for a site called The Angry Arab News Service.  "The Tunisian uprising is clearly a secular event, and the Islamists have no role whatsoever in it. Not all actions by Arabs are derived by Islamic notions and principles.""