I just wanted to let y’all know that whenever one of them sees even the smallest expression of Palestinian solidarity it absolutely wrecks their shit.

My Zionist coworkers have worked themselves up into a frenzy about not just the phrase Free Palestine (“genocidal”), but also keffiyehs (“genocidal”), and even cartoon watermelons (“reminds them of Germany in the 1930’s”). These aren’t grifters or online trolls. These are seemingly normal people, some of whom I’ve worked with for most of a decade, who are absolutely losing their fucking minds, and are completely convinced that any reference to Palestine is by definition anti-Semitic and a direct attack on them personally. They have complained to our boss, they have complained to our union, they have snuck into someone’s room and taken down a pro-Palestinian display. They are refusing to enter a room that has a watermelon displayed. They feel unsafe. They are losing sleep, they are bursting into tears. Its genuinely bizarre to witness.

I have a small watermelon up in my room and felt guilty that I wasn’t doing more, but apparently this seemingly mild gesture has the power of a thousand Hamas supersoldiers. Keep it up comrades.

If it sounds like I’m making this up, I honestly can’t blame you. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t been watching this play out.

    • Wertheimer [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
      66·
      10 months ago

      For many years Israel banned the Palestinian flag. They still confiscate them, when they feel like it.

      Yet, flying the Palestinian flag was judged to not be a criminal offence by Jerusalem’s Magistrates Court in September 2021. The court ruling was issued following the arrest of four people who were flying a flag, Haaretz reported.

      Police, however, regularly confiscate Palestinian flags on the grounds that they could lead to “a serious disturbance of the peace”, the news organisation reported.

      Following the 1967 war, Israel seized control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and later annexed East Jerusalem – a move that was never recognised by most of the international community.

      It was at the time that Israel banned the Palestinian flag from being waved in occupied territories and a few years later, even banned its depiction in any artwork.

      To circumvent more recent repression of their flag and national colours, Palestinians have creatively resorted to carrying sliced watermelons in a sign of protest, making the watermelon a symbol of resistance to occupation.

      https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/13/why-is-israel-afraid-of-the-palestinian-flag

    • zed_proclaimer [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
      40·
      10 months ago

      Israel and zionist countries banned Palestinian flag displays, then they banned Palestinian flag colors on clothing, so now protesters slice open a watermelon and carry it around (Red, Green, Black) as the zionists can’t make it illegal to have a watermelon.