Backlash after blunder

The removal of a pro-Palestinian performer from a concert tour has become a turning point for the music industry in dealing with the genocide in Gaza.

SOMETIMES it just takes a pop star’s bungle to bring consequential attention to the plight of Palestinians again.

Perfect? Not quite, but British singer Ed Sheeran’s decision to remove a key performer from his latest Loop Tour concert has inadvertently increased awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and musicians’ rights over free speech.

US rapper Macklemore (real name Ben Haggerty) was kicked out after he made pro-Palestine statements at New York’s MetLife Stadium on Sept 5.

He started his second opening act show by saying: “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour 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!’”

As images of Gaza’s destruction filled the screen behind him, he performed Hind’s Hall in memory of five-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli troops two years ago.

It drew swift censure from Jewish groups, after which the Israeli-American Council launched a petition urging Sheeran to drop Macklemore.

The rapper accused Gillette Stadium owner and prominent supporter of US President Donald Trump, billionaire Robert Kraft, of rallying venue owners to threaten the tour with cancellations.

Kraft, a longtime supporter of Israel and its military, made headlines earlier this year when his name was mentioned in the infamous Epstein files.

Sheeran responded that he was “not complicit” and blamed the promoter of the concerts and stadium owners but it wasn’t enough to evade the controversy.

Instead, it became what has been described as a turning point for how the music industry is dealing with Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, especially with the death toll of Gazans, mostly women and children, breaching 74,000.

Almost immediately, 11 of Sheeran’s supporting acts quit the tour in support of Macklemore.

Finneas, the Grammy-winning American singer and producer (and brother of singer Billie Eilish) declared: “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed. I stand with Palestine and its people.”

Irish singer Aaron Rowe said although Sheeran had been a friend who had changed his life and he could never thank him enough for it, he could not allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide and who highlight the savage murder of children.

Danish pop band Lukas Graham’s frontman Lukas Forchhammer said: “Artistes should be able to speak about war, about civilians being killed, about children who deserve to grow up, wherever they live and whatever flag flies over them.”

Irish folk band Beoga called out Kraft’s extensive history of donating to pro-Israel groups, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has spent over US$100mil (RM408mil) to influence elections and punish those who boycott Israeli products.

“It’s important that everyone knows that the real enemy is the Zionist lobby. They have worked tirelessly to silence artists who want to speak freely about a genocide happening before our eyes, for fear of retribution,” the group wrote in its message.

The backlash quickly spread across the entertainment industry, with performers such as ­children’s entertainer Ms Rachel and popular musicians Kehlani, Tones and I, Zara Larsson, PinkPantheress and others rallying in support of Macklemore.

Palestinian-American journalist Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the Electronic Intifada, compared it with the massive boycott movement against apartheid during the 1980s, adding that the reproach against Sheeran was “a clear South Africa moment”.

After his removal, Macklemore pledged to donate US$1mil (RM4.08mil) of his net earnings from the tour to six organisations supporting Palestinian aid.

On Saturday, in his first concert in Philadelphia since the rumpus, Sheeran wept onstage, admitted to “making mistakes” and described the previous week as one of the worst of his life.

“I’m used to my music being criticised, and I’m always happy to take that because I’m lucky that a lot of you like my stuff.

“But this week the criticism was about something much more important. And I’ve had to make difficult decisions and I am making mistakes and I’m so sorry.”

Sheeran said he never wanted to be an “activist musician”, but that reactions following the exits of Macklemore and his own supporting acts had put him “in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet”.

He also said he was deeply worried about the idea of venues pre-approving the content of performers and that this should never happen in the free world.

On where he stood on Israel and Palestine, he said he had tried not to be a political commentator of any kind because he wanted his music and shows to be about unity, not division, about humanity, not politics.

“But this is a humanitarian issue and I cannot hide how I feel about it any more. What happened in Israel on Oct 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain.

“What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic, unjustifiable and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives. And the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”

Sheeran said he was speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times and “listening and learning” because he did not know enough.

But the reassurance was obviously not enough as protesters outside the venue shouted vulgarities and chanted that Palestine was their demand.

Prominent American academic, author and media personality Marc Lamont Hill’s questions on a popular podcast on Sunday resonated with many in the music industry.

“I don’t doubt the tears. The question is why. Are you crying for Palestinian babies? Are you crying for the Palestinians under the rubble?

“Are you crying for Palestinian women and men who’ve been robbed of homes, robbed of church, mosque and hospital access?”

“Or are you crying for your ego because they’re dragging you through the mud and exposing you for your political cowardice. Ah, that might be it.”

Media consultant M. Veera Pandiyan likes this observation of Confucius: To know what is the right thing to do and not do it is the greatest cowardice.