On TikTok, for several days, it has been impossible to miss the watermelon game. Not necessarily a seasonal fruit, your market gardener will worry. No problem here my Jean-Louis, the summer fruit takes on a much more political nature than usual. Simple mini-game to collect pips on videos, the trend takes on a humanitarian aspect to help Palestine, in the current war between Hamas and Israel.
The story began on November 7 on the “xojourdanlouise” account when the graphic designer specializing in augmented reality published a new video to reveal her project. This explains that it is part of the “Effect Creator Rewards” program which remunerates its members according to the number of videos published. “I created this ‘Filter for good’ effect and will donate the rewards obtained to charities that provide aid to Gaza. I know many of us don’t know how to help, but it can be as simple as posting a video with this filter.
12,500 dollars raised
The filter in question: a watermelon, a curved path, seeds. The whole point is to help the fruit find its seeds. Hyper visual, super easy to use and above all super useful according to users. “Thanks, we didn’t know how to help,” we often read in comments. Very quickly, the filter exceeded the success expected by the designer. This initially expected 200,000 publications, a level at which the filter can begin to be rewarded. One week later, the videos exceeded 6.2 million publications, or a total of 12,500 dollars (or approximately 11,000 euros).
But the figure could only increase in a few hours as TikTok statistics take at least 24 hours to update. According to the “Effect Creator Rewards” program, the designer will be able to receive a total of 14,000 dollars for her effect. Enough to imagine a maximum objective achieved in the coming hours. As for the question of donations, the content creator now opts for a donation to the NGO Médecins sans frontières and for the purchase of Esims, a digital SIM card. “Purchasing eSims allows Gazans to connect outside to communicate with their families and also show what is happening in Gaza,” explains the site mentioned by the content creator.
A historical symbol
The symbolism of the watermelon, however, is not new here. Historically, the green, red and black colors of the fruit have been compared to those of the Palestinian flag. In places where the Palestinian flag is banned, such as in Israel, watermelon becomes a hidden solution to show support. On social networks, many photos of watermelons are published with the hashtags #FreePalestine or #aSliceOfHope in description. [« une tranche d’espoir » en anglais].
In reality, this first watermelon-flavored resistance dates back to the Six-Day War, in June 1967, we learn on the media The Conversation. As Israel takes control of Jerusalem, the first watermelons appear at the heart of demonstrations to show its support for Palestine. In addition to the colors, the symbol would be closely linked to the food sovereignty imposed by the Israeli government on Palestinian farmers during the first Intifada. If the watermelon represented much more at the time, today it participates in a pacifist struggle to show its support on social networks.