If the Palestinian flag could speak, what would it say?
9 Min Read
Were the Palestinian flag able to speak, it would tell never-ending stories of how "Israel" is terrified by merely looking at it.
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If the Palestinian flag could talk: Why all the obsession?
I am the Palestinian flag. You've probably spotted me before, being held up high somewhere in this vast world, on a window, a door, or a building.
You've probably seen me being taken off by Israeli occupation forces from random places for absolutely no reason.
My colors are red, white, green, and black. Every single color symbolizes something that is linked to our Palestinian struggle for freedom, which I am the symbol of.
"Israel" targets me to practice its settler colonialism project in Palestine. Whenever I am spotted, Israeli forces either shred me into pieces or set me on fire.
No matter where I stand, whether it's on someone's window, in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa, on one's grave or casket, or just being held by someone chanting "Free Palestine", I'm always a threat to "Israel".
What do the colors of the #Palestinian flag mean? #RaiseTheFlag #Palestine #AlQuds #لنرفع_علم_فلسطين pic.twitter.com/KX07pP4vho
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 29, 2022
How did I come to existence?
Let's start with the fact that I actually do exist. I was first recognized by the international community back in 2015 when I flew up high outside the UN Headquarters after the General Assembly voted on the resolution.
Even though some countries opposed my very existence, I was being actually recognized by the international community for the first time. Back in the voting session, 119 countries agreed on the resolution for me to fly up high, 45 countries abstained, and 8 countries opposed.
The flag of the State of #Palestine is raised at the United Nations office in Geneva. pic.twitter.com/MHByxM1IKg
— UN Geneva (@UNGeneva) October 13, 2015
I have a long history that dates back to a century, to the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.
Sharif Hussein mapped out the basic outlines for me. During the Arab revolution in 1916, my colors were, from top to bottom: Black, green, and white, with a red triangle.
The Palestinian people took me as the flag of the Arab national movement in 1917. In 1947, the Arab Ba'ath Party took me as a symbol of the liberation and unity of the Arab nation.
The Palestinian people re-adopted me at the Palestinian conference in Gaza in 1948. I was recognized by the Arab League as the flag of the Palestinian people, and this was further endorsed by the PLO at the Palestinian conference in Al-Quds in 1964.
In the first meeting of the Palestinian National Council on May 28, 1964, the Council defined my colors as follows: Green, white, then black with a red triangle.
In December 1964, the Executive Committee of the PLO established a system to define my dimensions while replacing the colors black and green with each other.
On November 15, 1988, the PLO adopted me as the flag of the Palestinian state.
My rights as a flag
On December 22, 2005, the Law of the sanctity No. 22 was issued, which specified my colors and where I can be raised, and the consequences for those who violate the law.
I can be raised on government buildings, airports, military bases, and official establishments and headquarters inside and outside Palestine.
It is forbidden to raise any flag on government departments, institutions, and public places.
All that because of a flag?
Despite the laws that were clearly issued and stated, the Israeli occupation always saw me as a threat. Why? For the very simple reason that I actually exist.
It is simple, really; Palestinians, who are fighting for every inch of their land, use me in the face of Israeli soldiers as a way to resist.
While Israeli occupation forces use live and rubber bullets, bombs, and heavy weapons on Palestinians, the owners of the land use me as a way to say: We are here, and we'll always be.
One might wonder: What can a single flag do in the face of the brutality of "Israel"? It has been proven that it can do a lot.
Starting from the 'Flag March'
In May 2021, "Israel" held its ultranationalist provocative "Flag March", during which illegal settlers raised the Israeli flag, and harassed and attacked Palestinians.
Above thousands and thousands of Israeli flags, and simultaneously with Israeli settlers burning the #Palestinian flag, all eyes headed to the sky to watch a drone flying the Palestinian flag up high. #Palestine #RaiseTheFlag 🇵🇸 #لنرفع_علم_فلسطين pic.twitter.com/FOY6QMOMuU
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 29, 2022
After the "Flag March", in June 2021, the Israeli Knesset passed a preliminary reading of a bill pushed by Likud Party MK member, Eli Cohen, to ban the display of “enemy flags”, referring to me, across Palestine.
Know more: “Israel’s Flag March": What do you need to know?
After the first preliminary reading, the Knesset favored the bill with 63 votes for and 16 against. The bill was primarily supported by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet.
During the Knesset vote, Cohen told those who opposed the bill to "go to Gaza or Jordan."
He said that “those who see themselves as Palestinians are invited to move to Gaza or Jordan. I promise you funding for the transportation.”
On the other hand, when Israeli extremists were seen holding the Israeli flags while brutally attacking Palestinians, the Israeli government was fine with that. But when a single Palestinian tries to place me anywhere near Israelis, it's "too provocative".
Watch | Israeli settlers burn and tear up the #Palestinian flag during their provocative 'Flag Mach' in occupied #AlQuds. #Palestine #RaiseTheFlag 🇵🇸#لنرفع_علم_فلسطين pic.twitter.com/0brBAHzcS5
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 29, 2022
At Abu Akleh's funeral; I was a target
It was not enough for "Israel" to horrifically murder the Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh that its occupation forces attacked the mourners carrying the coffin during her funeral.
Scenes of horror dominated the funeral as Israeli forces used batons to hit the pallbearers and made them struggle to prevent her coffin from falling.
As I was draping the coffin, it became the main target for Israeli police to the extent where pallbearers almost dropped the coffin to the ground.
I became a primary target of the Israeli police; whenever they saw me displayed, they would take me down for no reason whatsoever.
The Israeli police even stormed the family home of Shireen Abu Akleh on the same day she was killed, ripping me off and telling mourners to turn off any patriotic music that was playing in the background.
The watermelon and I: A short story of resistance
"Well if I paint a flower with these colors, what will you do?”
“It would be confiscated. Even if you paint a watermelon, it will be confiscated.”
Following the Arab Naksa in 1967, the Israeli government banned displaying my colors anywhere.
It was considered a crime to see me hanging in any public place. Any Palestinian who would display my colors, anywhere, anytime, would be arrested.
I was forced to hide away from the public, I wasn't allowed to show up anywhere, and I was being repressed along with my fellow Palestinians. They went after me in any direction I went. I became a real obsession for the Israelis; a real nightmare.
To this end, Palestinians found another way to protest and resist the Israeli occupation and apartheid: Watermelons.
Enter: The watermelon
In 1980, Israeli occupation forces stormed an art exhibition at Gallery 79 in Ramallah, confiscated the paintings that were displayed, and arrested Palestinian artists: Sliman Mansour, Nabil Anani, and Issam Badr.
Mansour, in one of his interviews, described how the Israeli police chief was convincing them not to do political art. "Why do you do political art? Why don't you paint nice flowers or a nude figure? It’s nice. I will even buy from you.”
“The officer raised his voice and said, ‘Even if you do a watermelon, it will be confiscated,’” Mansour said.
“So the idea of the watermelon came actually from the officer, not from us.”
A well-known painter from Gaza, Fathi Ghabin, was arrested as well in 1984 for one of his paintings, which showed his nephew lying on his side, succumbing to a wound after he was shot by Israeli occupation forces.
The boy was wearing a green and white sweater and black pants, covered in red blood.
Ghabin served 6 months in an Israeli jail for this artwork.
In October of 1993, just weeks after signing the Oslo Agreement between "Israel" and the PLO, The New York Times reported that young men were arrested for holding watermelon halves in the Gaza Strip.
In the same article, an editor's note stated, several months later, that the NYT couldn't confirm the claims, but an Israeli official couldn't deny such arrests had taken place.
Watermelons re-emerged in 2021
During the forced evictions that were happening in Sheikh Jarrah Neighborhood in 2021, followed by the 11-day aggression of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian watermelons started to emerge in paintings, illustrations, banners, murals, and t-shirts on social media platforms.
View this post on Instagram
Because of the platforms' censoring policies, pro-Palestine activists started posting watermelons as an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people, since it holds the same colors.
View this post on Instagram
Speaking of solidarity...
I was seen being held, raised, and worn by many Palestinians and pro-Palestine activists. For example, Palestinian graduate Nooran Hamdan bravely raised the Palestinian flag at Georgetown University and refused to shake hands with US State Secretary Antony Blinken who was present at the graduation.
#Palestinian student Nooran Hamdan bravely raised the Palestinian flag at #Georgetown university, refusing to shake hands with #US State Secretary Antony Blinken who was present at the graduation.@nooranhamdan pic.twitter.com/lxW10238K8
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 23, 2022
Egyptian rapper Wegz showed solidarity with the Palestinian cause by wrapping himself with my colors along with the Koufiyya during his latest performance in Paris.
In solidarity with Palestine: The #ManchesterUnited players Pogba and Amad were seen carrying a #Palestinian flag after United's fixture against #Fulham .#Gaza #GenocideinGaza #PalestinianLivesMatter #GazaUnderAttackk pic.twitter.com/8mYNo2VbZK
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 18, 2021
So, why me?
I, the Palestinian flag, still stand as a symbol for Palestinian resistance and persistence, despite the desperate and failed attempts to eliminate me. I am enrooted in the depth of every person who believes Palestine is indeed occupied by an oppressive, colonial, imperial and hegemonic entity.
I am engraved in the heart of every Palestinian child who tries to resist Israeli bulldozers, bullets, and bombs.
I am present at every funeral held because of Israeli crimes.
I do exist on every inch of the Palestinian land, and every attempt to erase me just proves how powerful and rightful the Palestinian cause is.
I shall forever be there for every Palestinian under the Israeli occupation, throughout the course of resistance.
![In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had "engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)](https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/12/21/b4a69f2e-8682-43e4-9d37-49482b304ab3/3.png?v=2&format=webp "In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had \"engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)")
