About the Palestinian Watermelon Flag
This flag represents Palestinian steadfastness (“sumoud” — صمود), resilience, and cultural creativity. The watermelon (batteekh — بطيخ) is a symbol of Palestinian refusal to be silenced in their struggle to free themselves from occupation, apartheid, and attempted genocide.
The idea arose in reaction to Israel banning the display of the Palestinian flag after the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The story goes that during the First Intifada, a Palestinian artist asked an Israeli officer “What if I were to make a flower of red, green, black and white?” To which the soldier replied: “It will be confiscated. Even if you paint a watermelon, it will be confiscated.”
The watermelon didn’t gain currency as a political icon, however, until this millennium, in particular after the watermelon emoji was added to mobile keyboards in 2015. The flag ban was lifted with the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, but Palestinians have continued to be harassed for displaying the flag and its colors, and in January 2023, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir gave police the power to confiscate Palestinian flags.
The sweet domesticated watermelon we know today (Citrinus lanatus vulgaris) originated in North Africa, but Palestine has its own watermelon species, sometimes called the colocynth (Citrullus colocynthis). Like the domesticated watermelon, Palestine’s indigenous watermelon, the “handhal” in Arabic (حنظل) is a desert vine with a deep root system, which is said to be difficult to eradicate because it resprouts from its robust roots when cut.
It is also the namesake of Palestine’s most famous cartoon character, Handhala (حنظلة), created by Naji al-Ali, who symbolizes Palestinian identity and defiance, the right of return, and resistance to colonization and erasure.
When you display this flag, you show solidarity not just with Palestinian political and national aspirations, but with the Palestinian spirit of joyful and creative resistance. You also give comfort and encouragement to your neighbors who feel isolated and gaslit by the silence about—or worse: active propaganda in favor of—the ongoing US-funded genocide against Palestinians. Planting this flag on your lawn helps build consensus around the necessity to find a just and humane path forward for all who live in the land from the River [Jordan] to the [Mediterranean] Sea.
