Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Recently, watermelon emojis have been circulating in cyberspace. This watermelon emoji is used to campaign support for Palestine.
It turns out that the watermelon symbol had been used many years before. In the 1960s, the fruit became a symbol of protest for Palestinians who were prohibited from flying their flags by Israel.
In 1967 there was a six-day war between Israel and neighboring countries, namely Egypt, Syria and Jordan.
A ban on flying flags was implemented at the border to limit Palestinian and Arab nationalism.
During the ban, watermelon was used during demonstrations against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. They carried watermelon slices as a substitute for the Palestinian flag, quoted from Yahoo News, Sunday (5/11/2023).
The reason is because the watermelon represents the Palestinian flag. Starting from the red fruit, the skin is green and white, and the seed spots are black.
The ban lasted until 1993. The restrictions finally ended after the Oslo Agreement.
In 2015, the watermelon emoji was added to the keyboard and became a representation of Palestine. Posts about Palestinian culture, sports and politics feature images of watermelons.
Its use has become much more frequent following the 2021 conflict. The watermelon emoji has remained popular in Palestine since then.
Likewise, on social media, support for Palestine is also represented with the watermelon emoji. Its use can thwart algorithmic censorship or user blocking features on a number of social media.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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