Macklemore defends position on Palestine: "Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial"

Macklemore has defended his position on Palestine amid controversy following his speech while supporting Ed Sheeran on his tour.

In a post on social media, he shared a clip of his call for a free Palestine at the concert with the caption:

“Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial.”

Following the show, which took place at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the Israeli-American Council created a petition calling for the rapper to be dropped from Sheeran’s LOOP tour due to his comments. He also faced criticism from fellow artists such as P!NK and Boy George.

P!NK reshared a post from the advocacy group StopAntisemitism, who claimed Macklemore had “accused Israel of a false ‘genocide,’ and turned a mainstream event into a political nightmare against the Jewish state.”

Last year, an independent UN inquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Boy George, who recently received backlash due to writing a pro-Israel song using AI, also denounced the speech. He posted an AI-generated image on Instagram that showed Sheeran wearing a shirt that read “Whack Mack No More,” while on X he wrote:

"On the subject of @macklemore it's important to note that slogans such as 'Free Palestine' offer the appearance of moral courage without requiring much political knowledge.

"@edsheeran clearly has no spine and as for @Palomafaith and her stupid virtuous squealing of delight about Mackle-bore when she is about as political as a soggy tuna sandwich," he continued, referencing Paloma Faith voicing her support for Macklemore.

"The whole thing makes me queasy. Good on @Pink for speaking out and hopefully at some point @edsheeran will address this issue."

Meanwhile, KNEECAP have shared a clip of Macklemore's performance on social media, with the caption:

"Solidarity and all respect to Macklemore. To the Zionist lobby if you call out genocide you’re labelled a terrorist – meanwhile they’re the ones cheering on a genocide and war crimes.

"Freedom for all oppressed people."

Sheeran has yet to address the controversy.

During his speech, Macklemore said one of the main reasons he joined the tour was so that he could use his platform to advocate for a free Palestine.

“I want those words to be loud and clear so the people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them,” he said. “I believe that every human being walking on this earth deserves exactly the same freedom.

“I say free Palestine, free Cuba, Congo, Sudan and Iran and all the people of America who live in fear because of this terrorist organisation ICE,” he continued, before performing his pro-Palestine track, ‘Hind’s Hall’ while showing footage of Gaza onscreen.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by BEN (@macklemore)