“Thrift Shop” hitmaker Macklemore uttered the words, “Free Palestine,” when he opened for Ed Sharrean’s stadium tour during the North American leg in September. This incident was very divisive as it led to Macklemore being kicked off the tour as Ed Sheeran’s opening act along with a slew of other opening acts.
What happened?
Macklemore opened for Ed Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., where he chanted “Free Palestine” while also displaying footage from the war in Gaza.
The rapper’s primary reason for opening up for Ed Sheeran’s stadium tour was to spread his messaging in support of Palestine in relation to the freedom of people all around the world.
He specifically said, “Every single human being that walks this earth deserves…[to] know safety and peace before they know the sound of violence,” in the two to three minute soliloquy.
He mentioned how being against genocide is not a criticism of Jews.
Then he performed a song inspired by the pro-Palestine students at Columbia University who protested after the death of five-year-old Hind Rajab in February 2024, titled Hind’s Hall.
The lyrics are critical of Israel’s military actions in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“In response, the Israeli American Council launched a petition demanding his removal from the tour, and the campaign group StopAntisemitism said the musician had ambushed fans with propaganda.”
Then, Gillette Stadium owner, Robert Kraft, led other NFL owners to pressure the promoter, the Messina Touring Group, stating they considered the remarks hate speech and would cancel upcoming shows if Macklemore remained on the lineup.
The promoter subsequently dropped Macklemore from the remaining U.S. tour dates on Sept. 14. Sheeran’s remaining opening acts, which included Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and his background band Beoga, all withdrew from the tour in solidarity.
But, we must ask: Were Macklemore’s words really hate speech?
Free Palestine
“Free Palestine” is a divisive phrase.
In Hind’s Hall, Macklemore rapped, “White supremacy is finally on blast, screamin’ free Palestine, till they’re home at last. We see the lies in em,’ claimin’ it’s antisemitic to be anti-Zionist, I’ve seen Jewish brothers and sisters out there and ridin’ in solidarity and screamin’ ‘Free Palestine’ with them.”
Kraft agreed with Macklemore’s sentiment of peace and unity, but there’s more to the story. He thought Macklemore was sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas.
Even the highly esteemed Pink condemned Macklemore’s “hate” speech, saying: “Last weekend he stood in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them. You don’t get to decide that for us.” It’s divisive, in her opinion, to express support for Palestine on any platform, especially in a venue as large as Gillette Stadium.
Israel is blamed for Palestine’s current state of affairs and Jews have been blamed for the war there. Indeed, FBI hate crime data shows antisemitic incidents increased by 10,000 or 200% in 2024.
The fall out
Ed Sheeran asked Robert Kraft to donate money to related causes including himself and planned “to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges.”
Additionally, Macklemore donated $1,000,000 to support Palestinian relief efforts and called on Kraft to match the gift; a spokesperson for Kraft has said the billionaire and Sheeran have each agreed to donate $2,000,000 toward humanitarian efforts.
Now, Macklemore will be going on an already sold out tour in support of Palestinians. The first three shows in Dublin, Paris and London are sold out. He will also tour North America soon. The total amount of money from the tour will go to organizations supporting Palestinians.
Would this “Free Palestine” tour be happening if Ed Sheeran cancelled his own tour in solidarity with Macklemore and his “Free Palestine” speech?
In other words, this was the best outcome of the controversy as the money raised will benefit Palestinian organizations. I am curious about who is going to join Macklemore on this tour as more famous artists join in. I predict artists like Kehlani, Zach Bryan and Doja Cat will join him on tour as they will reach a wider audience.
Macklemore achieved the goal of his speech, to make a strong impact, since he did it on an enormous stage and it spawned a tour with proceeds going to Palestinian supportive efforts.
History lesson
All Jews are not made equal, in terms of what they value and believe in. A large portion of the global Jewish population support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. However, there are some that are Zionist or anti-Zionist for religious, ethical or political reasons. Due to their Israeli origins, people may assume they are all the same in terms of what they believe in, but they are not.
Rabbi Weiss makes the distinction between the groups of people, saying Zionists are not Zionists because anti- Zionists essentially don’t believe in a god that shows compassion and warmth for others. Rather, they are extremists who still think their people will be eliminated from the world like the Nazis tried during the Holocaust.
This idea of Zionism is very interesting for a collective to hold onto for so many years as I actually view it as a trauma response, especially since the Holocaust accelerated the Zionist movement.
Trauma response is a mental defense mechanism that shapes how people respond to an event that affects them. The trauma is due to systemic antisemitism in Europe in the late 19th century where Jews faced severe persecution in The Russian Pogroms and The Dreyfus Affair, in addition to the Holocaust.
The Russian Pogroms was an outbreak of three waves of antisemitic violence that included looting, rape, assault, arson and murder. The cause of these events was the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, which threw the Russian government into chaos and directly preceded the first major outbreak of pogroms. The next president of Russia was his son, Tsar Alexander III, and he spread rumors Jews murdered his father, Tsar Alexander III, so they were free to beat and plunder them.
Then, the Dreyfus Affair occurred which involved a Jewish artillery captain in the French army with the name of Alfred Dreyfus who was falsely convicted of passing military secrets to the Germans. This incident included people trying to cover it up. For example, “In 1896, the new head of the army’s intelligence unit, Georges Picquart, uncovered evidence pointing to another French military officer, Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, as the real traitor. However, when Picquart told his bosses what he’d discovered he was discouraged from continuing his investigation, transferred to North Africa and later imprisoned.”
These horrific events contribute to my theory of trauma because they started the Zionist movement that has led to the war in Gaza as Anti -Zionist are using brute force to try to take control of the Gaza Strip.
Conclusion
This “Free Palestine” controversy has taught me this slogan is very divisive because of what Jews have gone through historically. They all have different ideals that conflict with what “Free Palestine” means to them.
I am calling for mainstream outlets to broadcast and report why Jews or Zionists would oppose or support “Free Palestine.” Because the last thing we all need is more antisemitism to generalize all Jews as having the same perspective. We need to learn the difference between Zionists and Jews in their historical contexts.
Feature image by Ash hayes on Unsplash.com
Edited by Abbigail Earl and Nancy Martin
