A sliced watermelon has four colours: the fruit's flesh is red, the seeds are black, the outer shell is green and the inner shell white. These are the same colours as the Palestinian flag.
The emoji had flooded social media pages after claims by those posting it that overt Palestinian symbols are restricted by United States-headquartered social media platforms such as Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter.
KFC Indonesia has disabled the comments section of its Instagram account following harsh words and insults thrown at the American restaurant chain. The company has not issued a statement on the issue.
This is as it and other American restaurant chains and products are also facing boycotts in the two South-east Asian countries with Muslim majorities as anger rises over US support for Israel and its war on Gaza.
While the Palestinian flag emoji is widely used on social media postings as a show of support, others use the watermelon slice as their profile pictures or in postings about the Gaza war.
Mr Guruh Riyanto, 36, a resident of Bekasi, West Java province, a Catholic devotee who uses a picture of a sliced watermelon as his profile photo, told The Straits Times: "It is a sign of solidarity (with) the Palestinians in Gaza and a reminder that a lot of people are suffering there, because of an aggression, a war crime."
Denne historien er fra November 10, 2023-utgaven av The Straits Times.
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Denne historien er fra November 10, 2023-utgaven av The Straits Times.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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