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American rapper Macklemore has begun his Free Palestine tour in Dublin after Ed Sheeran’s controversial decision to drop him from his Loop Tour last month.
The Grammy-winning artist, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, kicked off the tour last night in Dublin at the 3Arena. The sold-out tour was announced days after being dropped for saying “Free Palestine” on stage and referring to Israel’s military action in Gaza as a genocide.
He promised “many incredible surprise guests” on the bill for the show, and he did not disappoint, with Hozier and Kneecap making appearances, as well as folk band Beoga, who had also performed on Sheeran’s tour.
Palestinian singer Lina Makhoul and Palestinian American DJ Habibeats also performed, and there was a surprise appearance from Mark Ruffalo, who said via video: “There will be no peace until there’s equality.”
In front of 13,000 people, Macklemore said that he would continue to speak out against Israel’s war on Gaza.
“I am proud to stand here on stage in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We will continue to fight for collective liberation until our last breath,” Macklemore said on stage, where he waved a Palestinian flag for much of his set.
“Six weeks ago, two words is all that it took,” he said, referring to the rallying cry of “Free Palestine” at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium that led to his removal from Sheeran’s tour in a move widely denounced “cowardly” and as an affront to free speech.
“Those two words are so threatening to some people that we’d rather silence those two words than confront what they actually mean… Somehow those words have become more controversial than the suffering that made them necessary,” he said.
All proceeds from Macklemore’s Free Palestine tour will go to organisations supporting the Palestinian people and movement. These include: Anera, Glia, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Taawon, HEAL Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, Middle East Children’s Alliance, Jewish Voice for Peace, Medical Aid for Palestinians. Institute for Middle East Understanding, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and UNRWA USA.
The Dublin show is the first of three European dates, with performances scheduled for Paris on Thursday 29 October at the Accor Arena and London on Friday 30 October at the OVO Arena Wembley.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
The Gaza health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN, has reported more than 73,000 deaths in the last three years of Israeli bombardment. Organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations have described Israel’s actions as “genocide”.
A report published in June by a UN independent commission found that “Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide and atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank.”
A previous report last September found that Israel had committed genocide and claimed that these acts were incited by senior Israeli officials, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel has repeatedly labelled the accusations as “defamatory” and “distorted”.