Rooted Culture

Vibrant Society

1930 Jerusalem
Palestinian women protest against the British Mandate

Storytelling

Arabic mosaicist around year 735

Jaffa Alhambra Cinema
Bombed 1947

Palestinian history has been obscured and distorted by hundreds of years of colonial narratives. With this platform, you can explore how the agricultural revolution, place-naming, material culture, and trade routes have shaped the Palestine and Palestinian identity we know today.

VisualizingPalestine.org PalestineWrites.org

Literature & Poetry

Salman Abu Sitta in Conversation with Visualizing Palestine

"Our war is not a Military one,
it's an Existence War"

Embracing Palestinian Heritage:

Nurturing Cultural Roots

1918 Bethlehem

1905 Ramallah

Clothing

Dancing

Singing

Painting

The Watermelon:
A Symbol of Palestinian Resistance

Under Israeli occupation in the 1970s and 1980s, Palestinians were forbidden from displaying their flag or its colours—red, green, black, and white. This censorship extended to art, with authorities banning works incorporating these hues.

Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour recalls how an officer declared even painting a watermelon—whose colours resemble the flag—would be confiscated. This declaration inspired Palestinians to use the watermelon as a quiet yet powerful symbol of resistance.

Through art and cultural expression, the watermelon became a stand-in for the suppressed Palestinian flag, asserting identity and defiance. It represents the resilience of a people finding creative ways to resist erasure and maintain their presence.