NewzMacklemore calls for a ‘free Palestine’ during Ed Sheeran shows, prompting praise and backlash Rights advocates, journalists and social media users have come out in support of the American rapper Macklemore in response to pressure from pro-Israelgroups for expressing support for Palestine in his opening act performances for Ed Sheeran in the United States. Footage from Gaza and the occupied West Bank was displayed on screens as Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, performed in front of more than 80,000 people in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Friday and Saturday as part of English singer-songwriter Sheeran's Loop tour. Macklemore performed "Hind’s Hall", a pro-Palestine anthem in support of anti-genocide campus protests in the US, and named after five-year-old Hind Rajab, who was shot and killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in 2024.
He also wore a keffiyeh and made an impassioned speech in which he spoke in support of Palestinians and other peoples living under conflict. “To the people in Gaza and all the way to the occupied West Bank, know that we have not forgotten about you… Every single human being that walks this earth deserves safety and peace before knowing the sounds of violence, to know the sound of laughter on a playground before the sound of planes and bombs," he said on Friday. The Israeli-American Council has launched a petition urging Ed Sheeran and his management to drop Macklemore from the remaining dates of his tour, after the rapper used his opening set at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium to call for a 'Free Palestine'.
pic.twitter.com/2MBwJ5ugIK— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) September 7, 2026 "So I say free Palestine, free Lebanon, free Cuba to the Congo to Sudan to Iran to the people living in America that have to live in fear because of the terrorist organisation ICE." (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The "Thrift Shop" rapper also addressed the Jewish community, saying: “To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters, criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is criticism of y…
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