Pro-Palestine Activists in Virginia Paint Watermelon Mural, Angering Black Residents Who Say it’s Racist
Screencap of YouTube video.
In Richmond, Virginia, pro-Palestinian activists have painted a mural on a local building featuring a watermelon, with the seeds arranged to spell out “Free Palestine.”
While the watermelon has been used as a symbol in Palestinian activism—tracing back to 1967 when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip and banned the Palestinian flag—some local Black residents view the imagery as a negative stereotype. This has sparked discussion about the mural’s design.
The mural, located at the intersection of Brookland Boulevard and North Avenue in Richmond’s Northside neighborhood, depicts a darker-skinned Palestinian woman holding a slice of watermelon.
Dr. Faedah Totah of Virginia Commonwealth University explained the symbolism: “The Palestinian flag has four colors—red, white, black, and green—which also happen to be the colors of a slice of watermelon. When the flag was banned, people became creative in finding ways to express their national identity.”
Antizionist activists painted a large mural of a Black woman eating a watermelon with the caption “Free Palestine”
This was done in an historically Black neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia where some locals believe that the imagery plays into racist tropes and should be removed pic.twitter.com/iFFYPjegOI
— Jonathan Eric Lewis (@LewisJonathanE) March 7, 2026
However, some community members say the watermelon imagery carries historical connotations that are troubling. Jonathan Davis, former president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters and former president of the Battery Park Civic Association, said the image gave him pause.
“I was taken aback because of the imagery that it represents, a watermelon up to the mouth of a Black woman,” Davis said. “Understanding the history of our people during the Jim Crow era—how those images were used to demean, ridicule, and harm us—it really bothered me.”
The mural sits in a historically Black neighborhood that is undergoing gentrification, adding complexity to the debate. Local leaders now face the challenge of balancing support for the message of Palestinian solidarity with sensitivity to concerns about racial imagery.
About Post Author
