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How the watermelon wound up on Jennifer Garner’s daughter’s sweatshirt as a symbol of Palestinian nationalism
(JTA) — When the social media watchdog group StopAntisemitism this week posted a photo of Jennifer Garner’s daughter, it called attention to her sweater, which showed a watermelon cut into the shape of a map.
The group took offense at the map — meant to display the shape of Palestine — saying that it “erases the entire country of Israel,” envisioning a Palestinian state in the territory that now encompasses Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
StopAntisemitism was mocked by many users for raising alarm over a picture of fruit. But the sweater featured one of many graphics that have established watermelons as a symbol of Palestinian nationalism that dates back decades and has seen a resurgence during Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
Watermelons are linked with Palestinian activism because their colors — red, black, white and green — match the colors of the Palestinian flag. That symbol became widespread during the decades when Israel banned the waving of the Palestinian flag in Gaza and the West Bank. In lieu of the banner, Palestinians would use pictures of watermelons “as a metaphor for the Palestinian flag and to circumvent the ban,” prominent Palestinian artist Khaled Hourani, who was in his 20s when the first intifada began in 1987, told the Washington Post in 2021.
“The watermelon, which was a common crop in the region, became a symbol of political opposition,” reads a recent blog post from Beeri Printing Press, a prestigious Israeli imprint located on Kibbutz Beeri, the site of a massacre by Hamas on Oct. 7. “And so, in place of Palestinian flags, in Gaza and the [West] Bank they drew graffiti and made the watermelon an artistic expression. Where there were no flags, there would be watermelons.”
In the 1980s, Sliman Mansour, a Palestinian artist, reportedly had an exhibition shut down by the Israeli military because the works featured the colors of the Palestinian flag. Mansour has recalled in subsequent years that the officer told him even a picture of a watermelon would be illegal. According to the New York Times, Mansour included a painting of a watermelon in a 1987 book of Palestinian folk tales.
Israel allowed the display of the Palestinian flag after the Oslo peace accords in 1993, and contentions over their display receded. But the symbol experienced a revival earlier last year, before the war broke out, when Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far right minister of national security, attempted to ban public displays of the Palestinian flag as the country was being convulsed with protests against far-reaching judicial reforms proposed by the government.
In June, the Israeli activist group Zazim purchased advertisements on shared taxis in Tel Aviv that displayed a watermelon alongside the text “This is not a Palestinian flag.”
כשהממשלה סותמת פיות באלימות – חייבים להתנגד! האלימות כלפי מי שמניף את דגל פלסטין הולכת וגדלה בחסות הממשלה, אבל לא ניתן להם לרמוס את הדמוקרטיה ואת חופש הביטוי. מצאנו דרך יצירתית להעביר את המסר שלנו על מוניות שירות בגוש דן – שתפו עכשיו כדי שהמסר יופץ כמה שיותר: pic.twitter.com/7RKKWFfM67
— זזים – קהילה פועלת | ززيم | Zazim (@zazim_org_il) June 21, 2023
Watermelon depictions have proliferated since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, and the watermelon emoji has become a signifier of pro-Palestinian sympathies on social media over the last three months. The symbol has in turn sparked controversy for its offensive meaning in another context.
The New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America used it on a poster to call out the pro-Israel position of U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the New York Democrat who is the minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Hakeem Jeffries’ constituents demand ceasefire now!” said the poster, with a depiction of a huge watermelon slice, calling for a Nov. 17 rally.
That backfired: The fruit is seen as a bigoted reference to Black Americans, something Jeffries’ spokesman seized upon.
“The watermelon has long been deployed as a dehumanizing racist trope by white supremacists in America,” Andy Eicher told the New York Post. “In connection with the planned rally targeting our district office, the use of racially inflammatory imagery should come as no surprise given the role NYC-DSA and other gentrifiers have played in aggressively attacking Black elected officials.”
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.