Abstract
This piece comprises critical commentary by six students and two faculty who began a collaboration under urgent and difficult circumstances after October 7, 2023, when Israel intensified its genocide in Gaza. Writing from the University of Toronto, Mississauga — a campus situated on treaty lands and with a significant Palestinian student population — the eight contributors reflect on their solidarity work for Palestine between October 2023 and May 2024. The commentaries share this time frame and a commitment to Palestinian liberation, but they are different in voice, focus, and experience. Calling themselves the "Watermelon Peels," the group reflects on how their different identities, roles, and positionalities — as Palestinian, Syrian, Nigerian, American, and Canadian; as students and faculty; as women navigating questions of visibility, safety, and representation — complicate, confuse, and sometimes undermine solidarity even as they make it possible. The piece captures both the collective strength and the internal tensions of campus activism during a time of political and moral crisis, offering insights into what solidarity requires when the stakes are survival itself.
AI Usage
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Recommended Citation
Peels, Watermelon
(2026)
"Watermelon Peels,"
Gatherings: Vol. 3:
Iss.
1, Article 8.
Available at:
https://fisherpub.sjf.edu/gatherings/vol3/iss1/8