Artists for Anti-Semitism: Thoughts on The Macklemore Incident

 

(Macklemore dressed up as a Jew with a hook nose in 2014)

Yesterday, hip-hop performer Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour following an incident which took place at the Meadowlands on September 4th. During the performance, Macklemore declared, "A big part of the ​reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could ​stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: 'Free ‌Palestine,'"

When I hear Free Palestine, I hear Kill Jews. It means more October 7th attacks.

It is worth noting that during this concert, Macklemore performed a song called "Hind's Hall" which he dedicated to Hind Rajab, a 5-year-old girl allegedly killed by the IDF in Gaza in January 2024. For its part, Israel has launched a criminal probe of her death along with relatives and paramedics killed during the incident. The proceeds of which go to the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), an organization long known for its support of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and which at least 9 staff members were involved in the October 7th attacks.

Let's keep in mind that Macklemore has a long history of engaging in anti-Semitic behavior such as when he dressed up as a Jew with a hook nose during a concert in 2014. Pink commented on this incident in the context of the incident at the Meadowlands noting Macklemore's apology for the former:

Every Jew I know knew exactly what it was. But he apologized, and I let it go, because that’s what we do. We let it go. Then last weekend he stood in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice, and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them. You don’t get to decide that for us.

It is very clear that Macklemore has a deep-rooted hatred for Jews. One does not wear a hook nose, donate song royalties to organizations whose employees were involved the single deadliest attack against Jews since the end of WWII and chant "Free Palestine" absent such attitudes.

Yet perhaps the most disturbing thing is how the other supporting acts on this tour are backing Macklemore and have withdrawn from it in support of him and his views. 

Perhaps Macklemore, Aaron Rowe, Beoga, and Lukas Graham could start their own tour and call it "Artists for Anti-Semitism". Roger Waters and Kanye West could make a special guest appearance.

Of course, had Macklemore saw fit to target African Americans, Latinos, the LGBTQ community or Muslims, I don't think anyone would have batted an eyelash were he removed from Sheeran's tour. But evidently denigrating Jews in the name of Palestine is what sends you to the top of the charts these days.

And because Macklemore targets Jews, AOC will stick up for him while bashing New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft (who is Jewish) in the name of perpetuating the lie of "the genocide in Gaza." Perhaps Abdul El-Sayed and Hasan Piker will go on a reunion tour in support of Macklemore.

Of course, with the increasing social acceptability of anti-Semitism, such a tour might end up selling out arenas all over the country. Arenas full of people who hate Jews and wish us dead does not bode well.