364
submitted 2 days ago by theacharnian@lemmy.ca to c/canada@lemmy.ca
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 214 points 2 days ago

Since the 1980s, the watermelon has been an emblem of Palestinian solidarity,

I did not know that.

Is it common knowledge outside of political action circles?

[-] monotremata@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago

I would say it's well known among activists, and outside that community, it's only a little known. It's probably about on the level of sunflowers being used as a symbol for support of Ukraine. It's nowhere near as well-known as Winnie the Pooh being used as a symbol of protest against Xi Jinping.

[-] BJ_and_the_bear@lemmy.world 61 points 2 days ago

Seems like the Streisand Effect is at play here. I never would have noticed a watermelon as a political symbol if they hadn't reacted this, i would just think it's a bit of whimsy. Now tons of people are reading about it

[-] motruck@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

Except the organization wasn't trying to stifle dissent. They were trying to avoid any poltics. How dare they. Politics is life.

[-] Schmoo@slrpnk.net 8 points 1 day ago

Can't tell if you're being facetious or not but banning politics broadly from an event and then being selective regarding what is or is not considered political is a way of stifling dissent. Would they have kicked someone out for wearing a US flag pin? How about an Israeli flag? The watermelon pin is not a flag, but it's meant to represent the Palestinian flag because of the matching colors, so what if someone wore a blue and white pin representing the Israeli flag?

Because anything could be considered political one way or another there is no way to ban politics from an event without imposing one's own political perspective on the attendees by selectively enforcing the ban.

[-] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

I wasn't aware that "people have the right to exist" was political.

[-] motruck@lemmy.zip 2 points 17 hours ago

Hahahahah. Then you sir, madam, whstever are fucking dumb. Just like guy in the article, what it was just frut. Stfu. And before you go ohh ohh. I support Palestine but I also support people not wanting to est shit and breath it.

[-] Rat_in_a_hat@lemmy.ca 3 points 16 hours ago

"I'm inserting myself into this thread of a topic that I don't care about and don't want to be a part of!!"

Are you Meghan and Harry in a trench coat? An energy vampire? Do you need a hug?

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 1 day ago

watermelon

are watermelons grown in palestine? isnt it water intesive.

[-] definitemaybe@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Explained in the article that it's because the Palestinian flag is illegal in Israel, so they use a watermelon with the same (or similar, I imagine?) colours.

[-] Rat_in_a_hat@lemmy.ca 35 points 2 days ago

As many said, it's common knowledge if you've been generally knowledgeable about the colonialism from the 80s and/or if you've been informed because of the current escalation of the genocide.

Israel has had a "military rule" (administratively, judicially, and physically) over a good chunk of Palestinian lands since 1967 (other than what was colonized already). Under military rule law, even the Palestinian flag could put a child in administrative detention (prison with abuse) for an indeterminate amount of time (months to years).

To circumvent the oppressive rule, Palestinians took up the watermelon 🍉 which has the green, black, red, and white of the Palestinian flag.

[-] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago

the watermelon 🍉 which has the green, black, red, and white of the Palestinian flag.

I wouldn't have made that connection either.

I doubt I could recognize the flags of hundreds of countries, theirs included.

[-] Rat_in_a_hat@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah, of course! And other countries share those same colours on their flag - it's not about the colours, but knowing about the oppression that's important; and it's never too late or wrong to learn and share!

[-] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

but knowing about the oppression that's important

I have been well aware of the oppression, the bullshit that the Israeli "settlers" are doing and much more.

But I didn't know that the watermelon had been adopted as a symbol relevant to the issue.

 

It's not realistic to expect that everyone can know every single detail of every situation.

I'm sure I know some details about certain situations that you haven't heard of, just the same as you probably know things that I have never been aware of.

None of that is any reason to treat others as hostile enemies simply due to lack of exposure to certain details (as some people in this thread seem to want to do).

[-] Rat_in_a_hat@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago

I'm sorry, was I being hostile? I thought I was maintaining an informative tone.

[-] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 1 points 17 hours ago

Not you, but some responses have been leaning in that direction.

[-] optimisticturtle@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I've seen it in bios with Palestinian flags but never had it explained that the two were linked.

[-] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 41 points 2 days ago

Never heard of it before.

[-] vagrancyand@sh.itjust.works 16 points 2 days ago

Anyone with any knowledge of the middle east should be aware of it. The genocide has been going on for your entire lifetime. In fact there is no human alive today that was not alive during a period where zionists were not killing Palestinian children.

I grew up in a country that's officially anti Israel since forever, and even I don't know that. Just because it may be common knowledge in your circles doesn't make it so worldwide.

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] AGM@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 days ago

I'm actually kind of shocked how many people are saying they're unaware. Not judging, just surprised people haven't been exposed to it with everything going on over the last three years. Are you familiar with the yellow ribbon in association with Israel?

[-] Clearwater@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Not aware of that one, either.

[-] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 day ago

yellow ribbon in association with Israel

Considering it's been a symbol for dozens of causes, I wouldn't be surprised if someone hasn't heard of one specific one

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_ribbon

[-] JillyB@beehaw.org 5 points 1 day ago

I'm not aware until this story either. For me, this is my only social media. I imagine a lot of people on lemmy aren't really plugged into a lot of places where you might learn that. I've also never heard of the yellow ribbon.

The yellow ribbon that's literally used in dozens of countries worldwide, sometimes with more than a single meaning per country?

[-] AGM@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

I didn't ask about the yellow ribbon generally. I asked about it specifically in relation to Israel.

[-] Ithral 2 points 1 day ago

I only know of the yellow ribbon from marching cadence

[-] Witchfire@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Yes, provided you have been following the genocide. It's on par with the kufiyeh

[-] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 24 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

It's on par with the kufiyeh

Another word I had to look up.

I recognize the object, but didn't know it's name.

 

Something being common knowledge for some people doesn't automatically mean it is for everyone.

[-] Miaou@jlai.lu 5 points 1 day ago

This entire comment section is a purity test. As if there has never been any other major event or ongoing conflict to be aware of.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] orioler25@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Where have you been for the past three years?

[-] titanicx@lemmy.zip 26 points 1 day ago

I've been following it for years, and I've never once seen this mentioned.

[-] orioler25@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

I seriously do not believe you. You literally can't go to an event in support of Palestine without seeing these; I haven't once this entire time. Your "following" seems to just be a passing awareness.

[-] ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

I've been personally against what Israel has been doing with Palestine since long before Oct 7th. I don't personally know anyone that's Palestinian or even Jewish for that matter, living in a fairly rural area. It's possible I do have some acquaintances through professional services but simply don't know their heritage. Whatever the case I never knew anything about the "watermelon" thing until today. TIL

load more comments (7 replies)
[-] titanicx@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago

You can believe me or not. But based on the many comments and downvotes, that speaks volumes.

[-] orioler25@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

Is that how you criticize yourself? No wonder.

[-] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

Oh, I dunno, tuning out a tribal conflict that has been going on for 70 years and will never be resolved?

[-] orioler25@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

Damn, we really got the chuds out today.

[-] xthexder@l.sw0.com 8 points 2 days ago

I certainly didn't know that. I thought maybe they were a Saskatchewan Roughrider's Fan

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
this post was submitted on 24 May 2026
364 points (100.0% liked)

Canada

12013 readers
867 users here now

What's going on Canada?



Related Communities


🍁 Meta


🗺️ Provinces / Territories


🏙️ Cities / Local Communities

Sorted alphabetically by city name.


🏒 Sports

Baseball

Basketball

Curling

Hockey

Soccer


💻 Schools / Universities

Sorted by province, then by total full-time enrolment.


💵 Finance, Shopping, Sales


🗣️ Politics


🍁 Social / Culture


Rules

  1. Keep the original title when submitting an article. You can put your own commentary in the body of the post or in the comment section.

Reminder that the rules for lemmy.ca also apply here. See the sidebar on the homepage: lemmy.ca


founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS