The

watermelon The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...

() has been used as a

pro-Palestinian Palestinian nationalism is the national movement of the Palestinian people that espouses self-determination and sovereignty over the region of Palestine The region of Palestine, also known as historic Palestine, is a geographical ar ...

symbol in

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

s and

works of art A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

, representing the struggle against the

Israeli occupation Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, control of the Palestinian terr ...

of the

Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...

. It started being used as such in response to Israeli suppression of the display of the

Palestinian flag The flag of the State of Palestine () is a tricolour of three equal horizontal stripes—black, white, and green from top to bottom—overlaid by a red triangle issuing from the hoist. It displays the pan-Arab colours, which were first comb ...

, as the watermelon has the same colors as the flag: red, green, white, and black.

Origins

The

flag of Palestine The flag of the State of Palestine () is a Triband (flag)#Tricolour, tricolour of three equal horizontal stripes—black, white, and green from top to bottom—overlaid by a red triangle issuing from the Hoist (flag), hoist. It displays the Pa ...

, coloured in the

Pan-Arab colors The pan-Arab colors are black, white, green and red. Individually, each of the four pan-Arab colors were intended to represent a certain aspect of the Arabs, Arab people and their history. History The four colors derive their potency from a v ...

of red, green, white and black, had been banned in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in certain situations, leading to the locally-grown and similarly-coloured watermelon taking its place in Palestinian iconography as an alternative for decades. Following the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

, Israel banned the display of the Palestinian flag and its colours in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

and the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, with the

Israeli army The Israeli Ground Forces () are the Army, ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the GOC Army Headquarters, General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of the Gen ...

allegedly arresting anyone who displayed it. In 1980, the IDF shut down an art gallery in

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

. According to the exhibit organizer the IDF explained that the rules forbade Palestinians from displaying red, green, black and white, and watermelon is an example of art that violated the Israeli army's rules. Palestine Watermelon Flag

In 1993, as part of the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995. They marked the st ...

, Israel lifted the ban on the Palestinian flag. At the time, ''

the New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' claimed "young men were once arrested for carrying sliced watermelons", but Palestinian artist

Sliman Mansour Sliman Mansour (also Suleiman or Suliman, , born 1947) is a Palestinians, Palestinian painter, sculptor, author and cartoonist, considered a leading figure among contemporary Palestinian artists. Mansour is considered an artist of intifada whos ...

has cast doubt on the validity of these claims. A later editor's note to the article says "Given the ambiguity of the situation, ''The Times'' should either have omitted the anecdote or made it clear that the report was unconfirmed." Mansour remembers an early conversation about it, but does not recall any actual watermelon iconography being used until 2007, when

Khaled Hourani Khaled Hourani (Arabic: خالد حوراني; born 1965) is a Palestinian artist, curator, critic, and writer. Since 2019, Hourani has worked as a freelance artist in Ramallah, participating in exhibitions abroad and within Palestine.Hourani, Kha ...

created an image for a "Subjective Atlas of Palestine" project. Other artists who have used the watermelon include Sarah Hatahet, Sami Boukhari, Aya Mobaydeen and Beesan Arafat.

Resurgence

In 2023, the Israeli Ministry of National Security banned the Palestinian flag in public places. In response, many Israelis displayed watermelon stickers with "This is not a Palestinian flag." Since the outbreak of the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

in 2023, the watermelon symbol has experienced a resurgence in popularity. Individuals have been leveraging it, often using watermelon emojis (🍉) on various social media platforms to show support for Palestine. In particular, the symbol may be used to circumvent censorship and

shadow banning Shadow banning, also known as stealth banning, hell banning, ghost banning, and comment ghosting, is the practice of blocking or partially blocking a user or the user's content from some areas of an online community in such a way that the ban is ...

on some platforms, avoiding more overt symbols such as Palestinian flags.

Gallery

دوار البطيخة جنين.jpg, Watermelon sculpture at a

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

Jenin Jenin ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and is the capital of the Jenin Governorate. It is a hub for the surrounding towns. Jenin came under Israeli occupied territories, Israeli occupation in 1967, and was put under the administra ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

(January 2021) Solidarity gathering for Palestine in Brussels 2023-10-28 (12).jpg, Solidarity gathering for Palestine in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

(2023) Manifestación contra o xenocidio palestino (53404376436).jpg, Pro-Palestine protest in

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

, Spain (17 December 2023) Palestina Libre.jpg , A mural painted on a wall in a street in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Watermelon in 2025 Anada Shobhajatra.jpg, Watermelon motif in Ananda Shobhajatra,

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

(14 April 2025)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Culture of Palestine (region) National symbols of Palestine Political symbols

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

History of the Palestinians Food politics

Origins

Resurgence

Gallery

See also

References

External links