US rapper Macklemore to stage ‘anti-Semitic’ song
Multi-award winning American rapper Macklemore recently released a pro-Palestine song and is due to perform in Melbourne on Wednesday evening.
US rapper Macklemore in Melbourne on Wednesday is likely to perform his new single Hind’s Hall, a pro-Palestine anthem described by Jewish leaders as anti-Semitic and “chock full of lies”.
The multi-award winning artist, famous for chart-toppers like Thrift Shop and Same Love, released his song several days ago and made a clarion call for a free Palestine.
He is booked to perform a sold-out show at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday evening, supported by DJ Beeba.
The lyrics of Hind’s Hall express strong support for student protests on university campuses around the world, with a repeated line of “block the barricade until Palestine is free”.
“You can ban TikTok, take us out the algorithm, but it’s too late, we’ve seen the truth, we bear witness,” the song says.
“Seen the rubble, the buildings, the mothers and the children, and all the men that you murdered, and then we see how you spin it.
“Who gets the right to defend and who gets the right of resistance, has always been about dollars and the colour of your pigment, but white supremacy is finally on blast.
“Screamin’ ‘Free Palestine’ ‘til they’re home at last.”
Macklemore said all proceeds from streaming the song would be donated to UNRWA.
Prominent Jewish leaders in Melbourne have slammed the song and its message as “vicious”, “full of slurs” and a “hateful ode to anti-Jewish bigotry”.
Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said “I’m sure this song will be No. 1 on the terrorist organisation’s streaming list. That it was released on Holocaust Remembrance Day is a slap in the face of every survivor who survived the death camps and lost relatives at the hands of the Nazis,” Dr Abramovich said.
“If Macklemore has any compassion and humanity, it clearly does not extend to the more than 1400 Israelis slaughtered by Hamas on October 7.
“He obviously has zero empathy and care for Jewish students on campuses who have been subjected to violence, threats and intimidation … and no longer feel safe going to class.”
Macklemore came under fire in 2014 for performing a concert in a costume that many claimed evoked anti-Semitic stereotypes.
Macklemore and the Rod Laver Arena were contacted for comment.