Watermelon Resistance

If you can't fly the Palestinian flag show the slice of watermelon - it has all the Palestinian flag colours:  green, white, red, black.  In 1967, Ben Gvir, then (and now) brutal and amoral cabinet minister in the Israeli government, outlawed the Palestinian flag as part of Israel's illegal and murderous occupation of Palestinian territory.  For him, the flag challenged Israel's "homeland" claim and takeover of Palestinians ancestral lands. 

But as is always the case, oppressed people resist.   They find ways to snub the occupier and express both their right to resist even military occupation and to retain their self-determination - often at high cost. 

Watermelons are common fruit grown in Palestine so it has became a visual symbol of Palestinian resistance to the Israel merciless yoke of military subjugation. The watermelon slice inspires Palestinians and their advocates to resilient and persistent efforts in the quest for self-determination and justice.  .

 When my partner and I join in the regular Ottawa demonstrations calling for the liberation of Palestinians, we often carry the big watermelon slice in the picture above as a sign of our solidarity.  (The "slice" is actually a pinata available at the local Dollarama store.  It has started many-a conversation about its meaning and its message.   A teaching AND resistance device!)  In the Ottawa demonstrations and parades the Palestinian flags lead the way to advocate for justice and liberation.  They haven't been outlawed - in spite of Israeli lobby l efforts.

Of course, visual symbols can be found in many places with different meanings.  A blue jay doesn't conjure up only a big bird, but also a super baseball team!  And a cross carries spiritual meaning well beyond the wood or metal it is made of.  But in occupied territories flags call people to resist.

Another Symbol of Resistance

I was born in The Netherlands near the end of the Second World War. The Nazi army quickly conquered the country in May 1940 and installed its puppet regime led by Hitler's Commissar Seys-Inquart.   The Dutch Queen and government fled to London, England (while the Crown Princess Juliana and her family, found safety in Ottawa).  To maintain contact with her people, Queen Wilhelmina used  "Radio Oranje" to share news and resistance messages.  The head of the  House of Orange-Nassau was calling to hearten her people and to inform the local resistance movement. 

For the Dutch  "orange" has special meaning.  "Oranje boven" (orange on top) had long been an exclamation of pride and unity in The Netherlands rooted in the key role the House of Orange played in achieving self-determination and liberation for the country.  For the Nazis, of course, it was reason to arrest and punish because it was deemed to be undermining and resisting their oppression as occupiers of land.   Listening to Radio Oranje became a capital crime meriting summary execution. 

Suppressing Resistance

Occupying military forces - whether in The Netherlands then or the Israeli occupation forces in Palestine now - will go to great lengths to suppress resistance.   Keeping the truth of their crimes hidden and their control intact is the supreme goal.  They want the truth of their subjugation covered with layers of mis- and dis-information to "pacify", to make the occupied and  disempowered people docile.  Symbols like watermelon slices and orange banners just awaken the quest for truth and the urge to rebel.

We have learned how high a priority it is for the Israeli occupiers to keep truth suppressed.   To achieve this they have forbidden media outlets and personnel from entering Gaza.   Western media have been, as a result,  relying on Israeli press releases as if they are accurate representations of events.  They, of course, are not!   Israeli media have done an exceptionally effective job of convincing the Israeli population that the Palestinian threat is existential, but the reality of their genocidal assault and annihilating ethnic cleansing in Palestine is kept from their compatriots. 

Journalists whether of Al-Jazeera or other Palestinian journalists are key targets to prevent the facts from being reported to the larger world.  Over 275 of them have been murdered by the Israeli military in technology assisted pinpoint targeting.   Canadian armaments have contributed to this callous murder of communicators and all the other murdered Palestinians.

Truth, we all know,  is the earliest victim of conquering governments.  We've seen it in Russia, in Sudan, and Israel.    Subjugated people know that the occupiers' messages are lies and disinformation, but watermelons and orange banners become for them silent witnesses to a larger truth inspiring them to effect their liberation.

Happily, the Dutch have not stopped shouting  "Oranje Boven!" as a friendly exclamation and, when you look at a flag staff in The Netherlands, you will often also find an orange banner fluttering above the red, white, and blue national flag - Oranje Boven!   

When will the Palestinian people be able to simply eat their watermelons as a gift of the land and fly their flag as a sign of their liberation and self-determination.  Getting rid of Israeli military, political/legal, social, and economic control will be necessary.  It is certainly not built into the so-called "Peace Plan". Israel's weapons provided by western allies will still kill and reduce rubble to dust . 

Today, as it has been for decades, the watermelon must continue as witness to the inspiration and resilience of the people and State of Palestine.  Liberation from the curse of Israeli military terrorism  is still far from near.   But people of faith know that liberation is both the plan and the long-promised gift of the Holy One.  From the sea to the river the people shall be free - Christians, Muslims, Jews, Druze, humanists, atheists, etc.   Even those whose faith is tied now to subjugating and demonizing others will be liberated from their evil.

The 20 Point Plan which Trump and his co-conspirators in the Western world seem to want to impose on the Palestinian people and state is a putrid, self-interested version of what the Holy One intends and demands for the entire human family, including God's beloved peoples in Palestine.

After the Ceasefire: #3 ....