Social Media Buzzing with Watermelon Icon as a Symbol of Support for Palestine, Here's the History

"Social Media is Abuzz with Watermelon Icons as a Form of Support for Palestine, Here's the History Behind It"

Social Media Buzzing with Watermelon Icon as a Symbol of Support for Palestine, Here's the History

"Dream - Social media has recently been enlivened by the use of watermelon emojis or icons. These icons are used as a form of support for Palestine amidst Israel's attacks. According to Time, the use of watermelon as a symbol of support for Palestine is not something new."

This symbol first appeared after the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel took control of the West Bank and Gaza, and annexed East Jerusalem. At that time, the Israeli government made the hoisting of the Palestinian flag in public a criminal offense in Gaza and the West Bank.

To avoid the ban, Palestinian people use watermelon. Because when the fruit is cut, it has the national colors of the Palestinian flag, which are red, black, white, and green.

Not only the Palestinian flag, artist Silman Mansour told The National in 2021 that Israeli officials in 1980 closed an exhibition in 79 galleries in Ramallah featuring his works and other works, including those by Nabil Anani and Issam Badrl.

"They told us that painting the Palestinian flag is prohibited, but the colors are also prohibited. So Issam said, 'What if I make flowers with red, green, black, and white colors?', and the officer angrily replied, 'It will be confiscated. Even if you paint a watermelon, it will be confiscated.'"

kata Mansour kepada outlet tersebut.

In 1993, Israel lifted the ban on the use of the Palestinian flag as part of the Oslo Accords, which included mutual recognition between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

That is the first formal agreement that attempts to resolve the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The flag is considered to represent the Palestinian Authority, which will manage Gaza and the West Bank.

"Watermelon Officially Becomes Symbol While Palestinian Flag Is Prohibited"

After the agreement, the New York Times approved the role of watermelon as a symbol during the flag ban. "In Gaza Strip, where young people were once arrested for carrying slices of watermelon, which represent the red, black, and green colors of Palestine, the soldiers just stood there, with a bored attitude, as the procession passed by waving the previously banned flag," wrote journalist John Kifner of the Times.

In 2007, right after the Second Intifada, artist Klaled Hourani created the story of Semangka for a book titled Subjective Atlas of Palestine.

Then in 2013, he isolated one mold and named it Warna Bendera Palestina (The Colours of the Palestinian Flag), which was later seen by people all over the world.

The translation of the given Bahasa text to English while preserving any HTML tags is as follows: "The use of watermelon as a symbol resurfaced in 2021, following the Israeli court's decision that Palestinian families living in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem will be evicted from their homes to make way for settlers."

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