• kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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    15 hours 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?

    • BJ_and_the_bear@lemmy.world
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      4 hours 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

    • AGM@lemmy.ca
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      6 hours 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?

    • Rat_in_a_hat@lemmy.ca
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      9 hours 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.

    • vagrancyand@sh.itjust.works
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      12 hours 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.

    • xthexder@l.sw0.com
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      11 hours ago

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

      • yannic@lemmy.ca
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        5 hours ago

        I’ve always hated wearing ribbons & pins for this very reason. There’s no central authority and it leaves too much up to interpretation.

      • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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        10 hours 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.

    • kat_angstrom@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      I heard this once a few years ago, said “really?”, and then promptly forgot about it until now, where this was briefly new news to me again. Is this like, a very regional specific thing, or am I just out of some very big loops?