It's a thing in Palestine itself because the flag is banned in many places and it's the same colors. That one absurd dem tried to spin it as Palestinians being racist against black people/ a targeted thing against him.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/z4g3ya/why-watermelons-are-a-symbol-of-political-protest-for-palestinians

https://nypost.com/2023/11/18/news/hakeem-jeffries-condemns-dsa-ad-targeting-him-with-watermelon/

reading the comments below I'm surprised so many people here didn't know this especially with the recent Jeffries story, but PSA I guess. 🍉🍉🍉