Macklemore Calls for a 'Free Palestine' at Ed Sheeran Shows, Israeli-American Council Petitions to Drop Him From Tour

Macklemore played "Hind's Hall" to a stadium of more than 80,000 people, and the pressure campaign started within two days.

The rapper, born Benjamin Haggerty, opened for Ed Sheeran's Loop tour at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Friday and Saturday. During his set, screens displayed footage from Gaza and the occupied West Bank while he performed the song, written in support of campus protests against the war and named for Hind Rajab, a five-year-old killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in 2024.

Wearing a keffiyeh, Macklemore addressed the crowd directly. "To the people in Gaza and all the way to the occupied West Bank, know that we have not forgotten about you," he said, according to remarks reported by Middle East Eye. "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 went further, naming other conflicts and adding a domestic target: "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." He also spoke to Jewish fans specifically, saying criticism of Israeli policy "in no way is criticism of you."

By Sunday, the Israeli-American Council had launched a petition asking Sheeran and his management to remove Macklemore from the tour's remaining dates.

"Keep Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour about music - not political propaganda," the petition reads, accusing the rapper of using "selective imagery, biased messaging, and disputed claims presented to a massive audience as fact, without context or complexity."

The Anti-Defamation League issued its own statement, saying Macklemore was "falsely accusing Israel of genocide and engaging in antisemitic rhetoric and behavior." The account Stop Antisemitism called the performance "propaganda" and "anti-Israel."

Neither the IAC nor the ADL has previously organized comparable petitions targeting artists who voice support for Israeli military action from major stages, according to critics of the campaign, including journalist Glenn Greenwald, who wrote online that "the greatest threat to free speech in the West, by far, is Israel and its western loyalists attempting to use all weapons to criminalize, banish and punish criticisms of Israel." The Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap, itself the target of past prosecution efforts tied to pro-Palestine statements, posted support for Macklemore, accusing "the Zionist lobby" of labeling critics of the war "terrorists."

Ed Sheeran's team had not responded publicly to the petition as of this writing. Macklemore's remaining tour dates with Sheeran continue in the coming weeks.