The Orange

SOCIETY / GAZA

The orange has become a symbol for Palestinian national identity. 

For centuries, Palestinians have grown citrus, and by the 1900s, it was a major export. After the Nakba of 1948, when the state of Israel was created, many Palestinians were forced to leave their carefully tended orchards. After the occupation beginning in 1967, Israeli authorities prevented the lucrative citrus industry from growing by imposing export restrictions. In the following decades, Israel destroyed citrus groves since they could potentially be used to hide resistance fighters. Then, more recently, Israel imposed 'security checks, which often took so long that the fruits were spoiled before they could be sold.

And now, in 2024, the citrus groves of Palestine are devastated, and millions of Palestinians are struggling to feed themselves.

The cities where Palestinian produce was sold are bombed to rubble. The universities and libraries in which Palestinians could read books and poetry featuring the fruit have been razed to the ground. So many Palestinians who would have enjoyed these oranges have been bombed, shot, and orphaned.

Despite all of this, there is hope. There is resistance.

There is a dream of peace, where the citrus scent of the orange groves make Palestine fragrant, the flesh of the oranges feed the people, the trees can again be tended to, and make the people prosperous.

—

Rata Jamieson