Macklemore calls for “Free Palestine” & performs “Hind’s Hall” at Ed Sheeran concert
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American rapper Macklemore delivered a strongly pro-Palestinian message during his opening set for Ed Sheeran at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Friday night, drawing cheers from parts of the crowd of more than 80,000
Hebrew media said the gesture left some ‘Israeli’ and Jewish concertgoers shocked.
Wearing a keffiyeh, he told the audience he wanted people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to know “we have not forgotten you.”
“FREE PALESTINE!” Macklemore’s message echoed through the crowd as he opened for Ed Sheeran.
— 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐦 (@Malcolm_Pal9) September 6, 2026
Wearing a keffiyeh, Macklemore called for the words to be “loud and clear” so that people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank would know they have not been forgotten. pic.twitter.com/SouYjc1qQt
“I believe that every human being walking this earth deserves the exact same freedom, to know safety and peace before knowing the sounds of violence, and to know the sound of laughter on the playground before planes and bombs,” Macklemore said.
He added that he would not let fear stop him from speaking: “If I let the fear that I have felt stop me from speaking what is on my heart in order to preserve my own comfort and the comfort of the audience, that is the day I no longer need to be onstage.”
He then called out “Free Palestine, free Cuba, Congo, Sudan and Iran” and described US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a “terrorist organization.”
Following the speech, Macklemore performed his 2024 protest song “Hind’s Hall” as footage from Gaza, pro-Palestinian demonstrations, images of ‘Israeli’ soldiers, and related political messages played on the stadium’s large screens.
The track, named after a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza and the symbolic renaming of a Columbia University building by campus protesters, accuses ‘Israel’ of genocide and apartheid.
Proceeds from the song were previously designated for UNRWA.
‘Israeli’ attendees described the set as deeply upsetting, in testimonies given to Hebrew media.
New Jersey residents Noya Zuaretz and Gefen Levin, who attended with a group of about 10 people, said they had not known Macklemore was on the bill.
“We only found out there and we were in shock. It was really horrifying,” they told YNET..
They called the combination of the performance and the crowd’s cheers “like a knife in the heart.”
Some in their group left before Sheeran’s set; others cried.
Macklemore, who had been announced in advance as one of Sheeran’s official openers alongside Lukas Graham and BIIRD, repeated elements of the performance on the second MetLife night.
He is scheduled for additional US dates on the Loop Tour.
Ed Sheeran has not publicly commented as of Sunday.
The “Israeli-American Council” responded by launching a petition urging Sheeran and tour organizers to drop Macklemore from remaining shows.
The group argued that a major concert stage should not serve as a platform for one-sided political messaging relying on selective imagery and disputed claims.
“This was an Ed Sheeran concert—not a political rally,” the IAC said.
“Freedom of expression does not mean freedom from responsibility.”
