The multiple Grammy Award-winning rapper Macklemore has some words for those who criticized his recent call to “Free Palestine” as he performed onstage while on tour with Ed Sheeran.
On Monday (Sept. 7), Macklemore shared a video of the speech he made during his opening set for the pop musician’s Loop Tour stop at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last Saturday (Sept. 5). The caption read, “Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial.”
The speech elicited the creation of a petition from the Israeli-American Council calling for the rapper to be removed from the rest of Ed Sheeran’s tour. “This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,” the petition read in part, asking Sheeran to “remove Macklemore” claiming his speech was “a one-sided political agenda.”
The “Can’t Hold Us” artist made his plea for the fighting to end before performing “Hind’s Hall,” his song supporting Columbia University students’ renaming of the Hamilton Hall academic building to Hind’s Hall during their protests in support of the Palestinian people. The name comes from Hind Rajab, a 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed by IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip.
On the second night of the stop, Macklemore clarified his stance. “To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters; criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide, in no way is a criticism of you,” he said while on stage. “My message is for peace, love, for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect and equality.”
“So, I say Free Palestine, I say free Lebanon, I say free Cuba, I say free Congo, I say free Sudan, free all people in America living in fear over this terrorist organization ICE. None of us will be free until we all are free,” he concluded before performing “Hind’s Hall” for the crowd.
