Palestine and the Watermelon

Hey, hi, hello, and welcome to the next installation of the We Were, We Are memorial quilt for Palestine. Today is another symbol of Palestine, the watermelon.

Palestine and the Watermelon: History, Symbolism, and Cultural Power

In 1967, Israel forbade Palestinians from flying their flag. In response, the people turned to something deceptively ordinary: the watermelon. With its vivid red flesh, green rind, white rind edge, and black seeds, it carried the same colors as the Palestinian flag. Holding it, painting it, or even displaying its image became a quiet act of resistance. The watermelon was a way to affirm Palestinian identity when Israel banned the flag itself.

Nowadays, the watermelon is almost always seen as a symbol of Palestinian freedom and self determination. Artists use it in their protest work, chefs use it to speak up and advocate, even Ben Cohen from Ben and Jerry’s is using it to advocate for the end of the genocide!

Watermelon and We Were, We Are

If you’ve already read about why I placed the flag square at the center of the quilt, you’ll understand how deeply important those colors are to Palestinian identity. The watermelon carried that same message when the flag could not, showing once again the resilience and creativity of a people that insisted on being visible to the world.

But the watermelon wasn’t always the fruit most closely tied to Palestine. Another symbol came before it—and that will be the story behind our next square.

This square is just one piece of a much larger story. You can see the whole quilt and the meaning behind it in my post We Were, We Are.