From protest songs like Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” to, more recently, Bad Bunny’s “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii,” artists have always been vocal about their personal and political beliefs. So why is it suddenly not okay when the lyric comes out of the song and is said loudly into a microphone in the form of a speech? Seattle rapper Macklemore has recently found out where the line has been drawn. It’s with the Palestinian movement.
Recently, while on tour with Ed Sheeran, Macklemore shouted “Free Palestine” to a crowded stadium. Unfortunately for Macklemore, those big stadiums tend to be the property of billionaires. In this case, Robert Kraft — a billionaire businessman who has a history of opposing the Palestinian movement. It was Kraft who decided to withdraw his donations to Columbia University when pro-Palestine protests were being carried out by students.
So when is it okay to feel safe enough to keep that global pop-star dream going and not say the “wrong” thing? Peace in Ukraine? Yep, they might just be white enough. I think I’m safe there. How about Iran? Hmm. They are quite tanned, no? That sounds risky. The weight of public opinion is usually what these big-name artists wait for so as not to risk their careers and lucrative brand deals.
So, back to Ed. With all of his support musicians pulling out, Ed had to ring some friends to cover the gaps and did end up playing his show in Philadelphia, with a speech that played directly from the Zionist playbook. As Egyptian journalist Rahma Zein put it in her Instagram post: “You did not apologise. You performed the liberal Zionist trope, start to finish.”
There are plenty of opinions on how Ed Sheeran went about his speech: his lack of authenticity by using a teleprompter, his failure to mention “Free Palestine,” and then there’s the little omission of the word “genocide,” instead calling it a “conflict.” Can we blame the blandest man in pop music for not knowing much about politics? The answer is yes. When you command the kind of stage, power, and influence that reaches millions of people, there needs to be some responsibility for being educated about such an important ongoing genocide. Coughing a little and clearing my throat — I mean, “conflict.”
Bethany Miguel 
Tarkyn Sharples 
Sonya Murphy