ITV, the broadcaster of the British version of the reality series “Big Brother,” edited an episode of the show to remove all shots of a shirt worn by one of the contestants which featured a watermelon — a symbol of Palestinian solidarity.
Watermelon iconography has been associated with Palestine since at least the 1960s but has grown in usage amid Israel’s war on Gaza and prohibitions on displaying the Palestinian flag.
Following the initial broadcast of the episode in which contestant Ali Bromley wore a T-shirt showing a watermelon slice, groups such as the Campaign Against Antisemitism took to social media to claim that the “graphic has caused significant distress among the British Jewish community, who regard it as a genocidal message.” The group also stated that it submitted a complaint to the Office of Communications, a U.K. television regulatory body which prescribes broadcasting........