On and off social media, watermelons are being used as a symbol to communicate solidarity with Palestinians in the deadly war between Israel and Hamas. The fruit is painted on semicircles of cardboard at protests in support of Palestinians. The watermelon emoji appears next to the Palestinian flag in display names on TikTok and X.
The fruit is grown in Gaza and the West Bank, and it is the same four colors – red, green, black and white – as the Palestinian flag.Palestinians have used it for decades as a symbol of identity and resistance, said Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, 30, the founder of the digital publication Muslim Girl. “It’s taken on a much more widespread understanding” now, she said.
The watermelon emoji is among several symbols used as shorthand in the fierce social media debates about the war, but it is more subtle than the Israeli and Palestinian flag emojis and the hashtags #IStandWithIsrael and #FreePalestine.
The watermelon symbol has roots in Israel’s suppression of the Palestinian flag in Gaza and the West Bank, said Sascha Crasnow, a US scholar of Palestinian art. The exact details of how the fruit became such a symbol are murky, she added. In some versions of the story, watermelons were displayed instead of the Palestinian flag when it was effectively banned between 1967 and 1993, Crasnow said. Another version connects watermelons to an exhibition by Sliman Mansour and two other Palestinian artists that was said to have been shut down by Israeli soldiers in the 1980s. Mansour, 76, wrote in a recent email to NYT that an Israeli soldier had told them not to paint anything in the colours of the flag, including watermelons. “The officer wanted to express his disrespect for these colours and what they represent.”
Artist Khaled Hourani said he had seen his work and other watermelon images proliferate with each flare-up in the conflict.”The war is not only a physical one. It’s about culture, it’s about representation,” he said.
As the symbol’s profile has grown amid the Israel-Hamas war, watermelon imagery has also attracted scrutiny. Commenters on social media have responded to posts that include the symbol with Israeli flag emojis, calls to unfollow the posters’ accounts and accusations of antisemitism. “Instead of this subversive way of signalling to those in the know, it becomes a symbol to everyone else: We’re here,” Crasnow said.
The fruit is grown in Gaza and the West Bank, and it is the same four colors – red, green, black and white – as the Palestinian flag.Palestinians have used it for decades as a symbol of identity and resistance, said Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, 30, the founder of the digital publication Muslim Girl. “It’s taken on a much more widespread understanding” now, she said.
The watermelon emoji is among several symbols used as shorthand in the fierce social media debates about the war, but it is more subtle than the Israeli and Palestinian flag emojis and the hashtags #IStandWithIsrael and #FreePalestine.
The watermelon symbol has roots in Israel’s suppression of the Palestinian flag in Gaza and the West Bank, said Sascha Crasnow, a US scholar of Palestinian art. The exact details of how the fruit became such a symbol are murky, she added. In some versions of the story, watermelons were displayed instead of the Palestinian flag when it was effectively banned between 1967 and 1993, Crasnow said. Another version connects watermelons to an exhibition by Sliman Mansour and two other Palestinian artists that was said to have been shut down by Israeli soldiers in the 1980s. Mansour, 76, wrote in a recent email to NYT that an Israeli soldier had told them not to paint anything in the colours of the flag, including watermelons. “The officer wanted to express his disrespect for these colours and what they represent.”
Artist Khaled Hourani said he had seen his work and other watermelon images proliferate with each flare-up in the conflict.”The war is not only a physical one. It’s about culture, it’s about representation,” he said.
As the symbol’s profile has grown amid the Israel-Hamas war, watermelon imagery has also attracted scrutiny. Commenters on social media have responded to posts that include the symbol with Israeli flag emojis, calls to unfollow the posters’ accounts and accusations of antisemitism. “Instead of this subversive way of signalling to those in the know, it becomes a symbol to everyone else: We’re here,” Crasnow said.
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