Pro-Israel group petitions Macklemore be fired from Ed Sheeran tour for "Free Palestine" statement

Before playing his pro-Palestinian protest song, “Hind’s Hall,” the 43-year-old rapper continued, “Every single human being that walks this earth deserves to know safety and peace before they know the sound of violence, to know the sound of laughter on a playground before planes and bombs, for parents to be able to say bye to their kids in the morning and not have to wonder if this is going to be the last time they kiss their child goodbye.”

The singer’s in-concert statements drew the ire of the Israeli-American Council (IAC), which issued a statement in response, calling for tour organizers to denounce Sheeran’s opener. The statement called Macklemore’s stance “one-sided,” relying on “selective imagery, biased messaging, and disputed claims presented to a massive audience as fact, without context or complexity.” The group, which claims to represent some 150,000 Israeli Americans, has started a petition calling for Macklemore to be removed from the eight remaining tour dates. The group also threw some shade that a mere “opening act” would dare express solidarity with an oppressed people. 

The outspoken singer, whose 2012 track with Ryan Lewis, “Same Love” directed support for an ultimately successful gay marriage referendum in his home state of Washington, clearly anticipated the blowback, prefacing his remarks by noting, “And if I let that fear I felt on the plane yesterday stop me from speaking my heart in order to keep my own comfort and the audience’s comfort, that is the day I no longer continue to be on stage.” He also went on to condemn the Trump regime’s ongoing anti-immigrant policies and call for peace in places from Sudan to the Congo to Iran.