All we are saying just give peace a change Imagine...
🍉🍉🍉
A history of the Palestinian watermelon
The
use of the watermelon as a Palestinian symbol is not new. It first
emerged after the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel seized control of the
West Bank and Gaza, and annexed East Jerusalem. At the time, the
Israeli government made public displays of the Palestinian flag a
criminal offense in Gaza and the West Bank. To circumvent the ban,
Palestinians began using the watermelon because, when cut open, the
fruit bears the national colors of the Palestinian flag—red, black,
white, and green.
[…]
The watermelon symbol today
In
January, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir gave
police the power to confiscate Palestinian flags. This was later
followed by a June vote on a bill to ban people from displaying the flag
at state-funded institutions, including universities. (The bill passed
preliminary approval but the government later collapsed.) In June,
Zazim, an Arab-Israeli community organization, launched a campaign to
protest against the ensuing arrests and confiscation of flags. Images of
watermelons were plastered on to 16 taxis operating in Tel Aviv, with
the accompanying text reading, “This is not a Palestinian flag.” “Our
message to the government is clear: we will always find a way to
circumvent any absurd ban and we will not stop fighting for freedom of
expression and democracy,” said Zazim director Raluca Ganea. Amal
Saad, a Palestinian from Haifa who worked on the Zazim campaign, told Al
Jazeera they had a clear message: “If you want to stop us, we’ll find
another way to express ourselves.”
full article: https://time.com/6326312/watermelon-palestinian-symbol-solidarity/
Het
is ochtend en ik houd me vast aan een kop koffie. De nacht was te
kort. Alles lijkt bizar: waarom ik hièr zit, hoe ik hier kom en hoe ik
me afvraag: heb ik een kater!
Mijn ogen dwalen in de registers van mijn geheugen.
Ik
hang vast aan ogen van schitterend amfibool, gevlamde eb en mahonie,
vingers die in een baard plukken, handen en armen die onverwacht
explosief gesticuleren en woorden, uitdrukkingen, tussengooisels als
‘pfff’ en ‘oech’ en lach en gedachten kleurrijk boven de tafel
schilderen, om daarna even plots stil te vallen in een schoot van
magere benen die zelfs om elkaar geslagen nog toelaten dat beide
voeten de grond raken. Ik wil mijn handen op die knieën leggen.
Ik
houd me vast aan een kop koffie. Zwart legt hij een isolatielaag
tegen mijn binnenkant terwijl ik mij uiterlijk als vanouds niet laat
kennen. Tenminste, dat denk ik. Ik stort een bodem in mijn maag, een
shot cafeïne, om me niet te verliezen in gedachten van 'utterly
confused'.
Er zijn die haast vogelachtige handen,
als kieviten op een veld, met onnavolgbare vlucht - dat duiken,
zwenken, stijgen, rusten….
Ik had gezegd: “Ik wil ze zien en voelen”. Dat mocht en deed ik dus.
Ik
palpeerde ze beiden (zou mijn ogen willen sluiten) en voelde ze als
braille. De nagels, het bot, de huid, het vlees van de muizen. Ik
navigeerde als vanouds tussen metacarpalen, vond snuifdoos en webbing.
Zocht de ijkpunten, maakte een mentaal plan en hing alles vast in mijn
eigen vingerprent.
Dat was ik, prentenverzamelaar. Van onzichtbare platen. Het handencabinet…
Met kijken en voelen van handen als puur genot.
Mijn
ogen zijn daar gebleven, op dat gezicht. En als met een laserpen
snijd ik lijn na plooi, de baard, de lange nek daaronder, kwetsbaar als
Nzou’s plek.
Elke dag sedertdien.
Amid Increasingly Dire Humanitarian Situation in
Gaza, Secretary-General Tells Security Council Hamas Attacks Cannot
Justify Collective Punishment of Palestinian People
ANTÓNIO GUTERRES, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
warned that the situation in the Middle East grew more dire by the hour,
with the war in Gaza raging, and risking spiralling throughout the
region. “At a crucial moment like this, it is vital to be clear on
principles — starting with the fundamental principle of respecting and
protecting civilians,” he stressed. Recalling his unequivocal
condemnation of the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October acts of
terror by Hamas in Israel, he stated, “nothing can justify the
deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians — or the
launching of rockets against civilian targets.” All hostages must be
treated humanely and released immediately and without conditions, he
said, noting the presence of members of their families.
The
attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum, with the Palestinian people
being subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation, during which
they saw their land devoured by settlements and plagued by violence;
their economy stifled; their people displaced; their homes demolished,
and their hopes for a political solution vanishing, he went on.
However, the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the
appalling attacks by Hamas. “And those appalling attacks cannot justify
the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” he said,
emphasizing: “Even war has rules.” All parties must uphold and respect
their obligations under international humanitarian law; take constant
care in the conduct of military operations to spare civilians; and
respect and protect hospitals and respect the inviolability of United
Nations facilities which today are sheltering more than 600,000
Palestinians.
He went on to voice deep alarm over the relentless
bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, the level of civilian casualties
and the mounting destruction of entire neighbourhoods, underscoring the
importance of protecting civilians in any armed conflict. “Protecting
civilians can never mean using them as human shields,” he said, adding:
“Protecting civilians does not mean ordering more than 1 million people
to evacuate to the south, where there is no shelter, no food, no water,
no medicine and no fuel, and then continuing to bomb the south
itself.” Voicing concern over the clear violations of international
humanitarian law being witnessed in Gaza, he said, “Let me be clear: No
party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law.”
While some humanitarian relief is finally getting into Gaza, it
represented “a drop of aid in an ocean of need”. United Nations fuel
supplies in Gaza will run out in a matter of days, he said,
adding: “That would be another disaster.”
The people of Gaza need
continuous aid delivery at a level that corresponds to the enormous
needs, he continued, adding: “That aid must be delivered without
restrictions.” He commended his United Nations colleagues and
humanitarian partners in Gaza risking their lives to provide aid to
those in need, stressing: “To ease epic suffering, make the delivery of
aid easier and safer, and facilitate the release of hostages, I
reiterate my appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.” Even in
“this moment of grave and immediate danger”, he emphasized that a
two-State solution is the only realistic foundation for a true peace and
stability. Israelis must see their legitimate needs for security
materialized, and Palestinians must see their legitimate aspirations for
an independent State realized, in line with United Nations resolutions,
international law and previous agreements.
Finally, he called for
human dignity to be upheld. Observing that polarization and
dehumanization are being fuelled by a tsunami of disinformation, he
said, “we must stand up to the forces of antisemitism, anti-Muslim
bigotry and all forms of hate.” He noted that today is United Nations
Day, marking 78 years since the Charter of the United Nations entered
into force, reflecting Members’ shared commitment to advance peace,
sustainable development and human rights. At this critical hour, he
appealed to all to pull back from the brink before the violence claims
even more lives and spreads even farther.
