Ed Sheeran’s latest tour was supposed to be a concert. At the first two New Jersey shows, Macklemore turned his opening act into an anti-Israel protest.
Performing before Sheeran’s audience, Macklemore shouted “Free Palestine,” accused Israel of genocide, performed his protest song “Hind’s Hall,” and filled the stadium screens with Gaza footage and pro-Palestinian political messaging. What he did not show was Hamas, the October 7 atrocities, or the Israeli hostages whose lives were destroyed by the terror group that started this war.
This was not a one-night surprise. After backlash from the first show, Macklemore returned the next night and did it again.
But Macklemore did not hijack the stage. Ed Sheeran gave it to him.
That matters because Macklemore’s anti-Israel activism was not hidden. He has spent years using his platform to accuse Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing, while promoting conspiracy-laden warnings about Israel controlling social media and censorship. His record also includes the infamous 2014 performance in which he appeared in a costume widely criticized as antisemitic.
Macklemore is still scheduled for more dates on Sheeran’s Loop Tour. Later this year, FINNEAS is also set to open for Sheeran, after wearing the Artists4Ceasefire red-hand pin at the Oscars, a symbol many Jews associate with the bloodied hands from the 2000 Ramallah lynching of two Israelis.
Sheeran has largely stayed quiet on the war, but he has met former Hamas hostage Noa Argamani. He cannot claim not to know what October 7 was.
These opening acts were not surprises. They were choices.
And when a global superstar gives his stage to artists who turn concerts into one-sided anti-Israel spectacles, silence is not neutrality. It is part of the message.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
