http://youtube.com/post/UgkxlcWGgfHsLu23MRmwKs4T6jfhgfisEf8R
The New Arab
7/4/2026
Turkish tennis player Zeynep SĂśnmezâs used a watermelon-design âstring dampenerâ to get around the tournamentâs ban on watermelon pins in the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
SĂśnmez, ranked 51 in global womenâs tennis and Turkeyâs highest-ever ranked womenâs player, said:
âI used to wear a pin. Tournaments no longer allow me to wear it. We had a discussion with the organizers because the Ukrainian flag is allowed but Palestine is not. They ultimately told us they definitely would not allow it ⌠I can use the vibration dampener and they canât object to that. Thatâs why I put the watermelon symbol on my racketâ.
The gesture angered Pro-Israel groups, with the Campaign against Antisemitism claiming that the watermelon means the âdestruction of the Jewish stateâ.