Earlier this year, Anna, a Jewish woman in her mid-30s, put a single watermelon emoji in a prompt on her Hinge profile – a symbolic indicator of solidarity with the Palestinian people. Not long after, a man she assumed was also Jewish matched with her and asked what the watermelon meant. “When I responded, he immediately unmatched me,” she said. The only thing she could think to do was laugh.
The war in Gaza, which is stretching into its second year and has killed more than 43,000 people, has influenced every aspect of American life – from college campuses to workplaces, family dinners to the conversation at synagogues and mosques. In the US, where the conflict pulls on deep-rooted allegiances and senses of identity, diverging views have put an undeniable strain on intimate relationships – including even the most nascent of romantic connections.
