FREE PALESTINE: Fascists try to Silence Rapper Macklemore

FREE, FREE PALESTINE

Fascists try to Silence Rapper Macklemore

On September 4, the American rapper Macklemore stood on stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and led the audience in the call for “free Palestine”.¹ He told the audience that he wanted the people of Gaza and “the occupied West Bank” to know “we have not forgotten about them”.

VIDEO of MACKLEMORE’S SPEECH

Ten days later, Macklemore was dropped from the remainder of the US leg of Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour.^1,2 The elimination of Macklemore was instigated by Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots NFL football team and member of the Epstein class of degenerates. Kraft banned Macklemore from performing at the Patriots’ Gillette Stadium and organized other NFL owners to do the same, essentially blocking Sheeran’s tour.^1,2

The next day, all the remaining support acts and backing band members for Ed Sheeran’s “Loop” tour announced their withdrawal from the tour.³They exited in solidarity with rapper Macklemore. The primary statements and quotes shared by the departing groups and artists include:

FINNEAS: “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed. I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”
Lukas Graham: “Money doesn’t give you the right to own the conversation. Nobody’s bank balance should decide who gets to speak or which suffering we’re allowed to acknowledge.”
Aaron Rowe: “I cannot stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices who speak up against Israeli genocide and who highlight the savage murder of children.”
Beoga (Sheeran’s performing backing band): The Irish folk band announced their departure to actively protest the “silencing of Macklemore by zionist lobbies.”

Ed Sheeran responded to Macklemore’s removal from his U.S. tour by releasing an official statement on Instagram explaining that dropping the rapper was the final decision of the concert promoters and venue owners, not his own choice.⁴. While he respected Macklemore’s strength in speaking out, Sheeran stated he believes diplomacy and keeping conversations open is his own way of advocating for peace.

NO ED SHEERAN – THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

There are no “conversations” as Israeli genocide continues in Gaza and spreads to Lebanon and the West Bank. There is no “diplomacy” as the U.S. prepares to send is Israel a $2.8 billion package of 2,000-pound bombs.⁵ A shipment that includes 20,000 MK-84 bombs. An MK-84 explosion sends metal fragments in every direction for thousands of feet, can rip through metal and thick concrete, and often creates large craters in the earth.

We will not allow Fascists such as Robert Kraft to silence our voices and to crush our movement.

The American people, the Palestinian people, the Iranian people, the people of Lebanon, Venezuela, Cuba, and working people all over the world are fighting for the same future.

We are fighting against Fascism and War and for Working Class Democracy where the wealth of our planet is used to provide everyone with what they need to live a healthy and productive life, a just and peaceful world based on cooperation.

On September 4, Macklemore performed the song Hind’s Hall – dedicated to Hind Rajab, the five-year-old girl killed by Israeli forces while stranded inside a car in Gaza – stating that “wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial”.