Israel-Gaza war: how watermelon imagery, a symbol of Palestinian solidarity, spread around the world
- Colours of sliced watermelon – red pulp, green-white rind and black seeds – are the same as those on the Palestinian flag
- The fruit has become a symbol of protest in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as a global sign of solidarity with Palestinians
Over the past three months, on banners and T-shirts and balloons and social media posts, one piece of imagery has emerged around the world in protests against the war between Israel and Hamas: the watermelon.
The colours of sliced watermelon – with red pulp, green-white rind and black seeds – are the same as those on the Palestinian flag.
From New York and Tel Aviv to Dubai and Belgrade, the fruit has become a symbol of solidarity, drawing together activists who don’t speak the same language or belong to the same culture but share a common cause.
To avoid repressive censorship, Chinese dissidents once pioneered “algospeak”, or creative shorthands that bypass content moderation, recently seen with Winnie the Pooh memes mocking Chinese President Xi Jinping.
People around the world began using algospeak to subvert algorithmic biases on TikTok, Instagram and other platforms.
The internet is now teeming with pictorial signs – pixelated images, emoji and other typographical codes – that signal political dissent. The watermelon emoji is the latest example.