How has watermelon become part of the Palestinian struggle against Israel?

Watermelon has not only been a part of Palestine's culture, but this seasonal fruit has also symbolised Palestinian resistance against the Israeli government for the past five decades. In 1967, when Israel occupied Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, it also banned the Palestinian flag.

However, Palestinian activists and people didn't relent; instead, they marched on with slices of watermelons to express their resentment against Israel.

Since then, the juicy and colorful fruit, which provides solace for Palestinians during the summer, has been a symbolic gesture against the Israeli government.

Why

• The colors of watermelons - red, black, white, and green - are reminiscent of the colors of the Palestinian flag.

• The fruit showcases the patriotic hues of the Palestinian flag: the red watermelon flesh, black seeds, white rind, and the green outer skin.

• When Israel banned the Palestinian flag, people took to the streets carrying sliced watermelons as a form of protest.

• In 1993, after the signing of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Authority, the ban was lifted.

• However, there were still instances when Israeli forces objected to the use of watermelon in any form, including art, design, and images.

The use by artists

• In 2007, after the second Intifada, the well-known artist Khaled Hourani created "The Story of Watermelon" for a book titled "Subjective Atlas of Palestine."
• In 2013, Hourani isolated one print and named it "The Colors of the Palestinian Flag," which has since been seen by people around the world.
• In 2021, the symbol returned when Palestinian families were forcibly evicted from their homes in East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers.
• In January 2023, the Israeli government issued orders for the confiscation of Palestinian flags. There was an attempt to turn this into law, but before that, the government collapsed.

   

• In June, Zazim, an Arab-Israeli organization, launched a campaign to protest the arrest and confiscation of the Israeli flags. Images of watermelons were plastered onto 16 taxis operating in Tel Aviv, reading, “This is not the Palestinian Flag.” Amal Saad, a Palestinian from Haifa who worked on this campaign, said to Al Jazeera, “If you want to stop us, we’ll find another way to express ourselves.”

   

The war

• Israel and Palestine have been entangled in a geographical and religious conflict for the past 70 years.
• The creation of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent settlement of a Jewish community in Palestine led to a conflict between Muslims and Jews, who have a long history of enmity.
• The war that began on October 7, 2023, is the culmination of years of Palestinian oppression by the Israeli government.
  Israel is fighting the Hamas group in response to the killing of innocent civilians on October 7, 2023.
• The war has prompted widespread support for Palestine from the Arab world, while the US, UK, France, and Australia are backing Israel.
• To date, over 7,000 Palestinians have lost their lives in the conflict, primarily due to Israeli airstrikes.