Ed Sheeran: Support Macklemore's Right to Speak Out About Palestine
The Issue
Dear Ed Sheeran,
Stuart Camp / Grumpy Old Management,
Messina Touring Group / AEG Presents,
and MetLife Stadium Leadership
and the leadership of all venues hosting the LOOP Tour,
In the opening act for Ed Sheeran's September 4 concert at MetLife Stadium, artist Macklemore called for "Free Palestine" and performed "Hind's Hall”– a song written for Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl killed in Gaza in January 2024 alongside the paramedics who tried to save her.
In the days following the concert, the Israeli American Council launched a petition calling for Macklemore’s removal from the remainder of the LOOP tour. The petition referred to Macklemore’s performance as “political propaganda,” stating, “This was an Ed Sheeran concert - not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event. The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views. The question is where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.”
Calling attention to the deaths of children is not "a one-sided political agenda." Tens of thousands of Palestinian children have been killed or wounded since the war in Gaza began — a fact acknowledged by international bodies and widely reported by journalists and humanitarian organizations worldwide. The song that Macklemore performed, "Hind's Hall", was not written to celebrate lawbreaking. It was written to tell the story of a six-year-old girl who called for help for hours while trapped near her family's bodies, and no one reached her in time. This is the truth that Macklemore wanted to share.
The reality of the horrors occurring in Gaza is undeniable, and naming that reality is not propaganda. Refusing to name it is a choice, too. The question raised by the IAC’s petition is not really about "keeping concerts about music." It's about who gets to decide which forms of grief are acceptable to name from a stage, and which aren't.
At its core, the future of Macklemore’s participation in the LOOP tour is a censorship issue. Art is, and always has been, political by nature. Empathetic people-- famous or not-- should be free to speak out about injustice to whatever platform they have access to. To invite the world to bear witness to human suffering that the world might otherwise look away from. To stand up and loudly declare, "This isn't right-- and we should do something about it". This is how we change things for the better.
We call on Ed Sheeran, tour leadership, and the leadership of all venues hosting the LOOP Tour to:
Affirm publicly that artists on this tour are free to speak on the humanitarian crises of our time without facing professional retaliation for doing so.
Refuse to let a pressure campaign built on mischaracterizing a song's meaning set the boundaries of what audiences are allowed to hear.
Silence is not neutrality. It's a choice.
Your stage. His voice. His right.
112
The Issue
Dear Ed Sheeran,
Stuart Camp / Grumpy Old Management,
Messina Touring Group / AEG Presents,
and MetLife Stadium Leadership
and the leadership of all venues hosting the LOOP Tour,
In the opening act for Ed Sheeran's September 4 concert at MetLife Stadium, artist Macklemore called for "Free Palestine" and performed "Hind's Hall”– a song written for Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl killed in Gaza in January 2024 alongside the paramedics who tried to save her.
In the days following the concert, the Israeli American Council launched a petition calling for Macklemore’s removal from the remainder of the LOOP tour. The petition referred to Macklemore’s performance as “political propaganda,” stating, “This was an Ed Sheeran concert - not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event. The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views. The question is where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.”
Calling attention to the deaths of children is not "a one-sided political agenda." Tens of thousands of Palestinian children have been killed or wounded since the war in Gaza began — a fact acknowledged by international bodies and widely reported by journalists and humanitarian organizations worldwide. The song that Macklemore performed, "Hind's Hall", was not written to celebrate lawbreaking. It was written to tell the story of a six-year-old girl who called for help for hours while trapped near her family's bodies, and no one reached her in time. This is the truth that Macklemore wanted to share.
The reality of the horrors occurring in Gaza is undeniable, and naming that reality is not propaganda. Refusing to name it is a choice, too. The question raised by the IAC’s petition is not really about "keeping concerts about music." It's about who gets to decide which forms of grief are acceptable to name from a stage, and which aren't.
At its core, the future of Macklemore’s participation in the LOOP tour is a censorship issue. Art is, and always has been, political by nature. Empathetic people-- famous or not-- should be free to speak out about injustice to whatever platform they have access to. To invite the world to bear witness to human suffering that the world might otherwise look away from. To stand up and loudly declare, "This isn't right-- and we should do something about it". This is how we change things for the better.
We call on Ed Sheeran, tour leadership, and the leadership of all venues hosting the LOOP Tour to:
Affirm publicly that artists on this tour are free to speak on the humanitarian crises of our time without facing professional retaliation for doing so.
Refuse to let a pressure campaign built on mischaracterizing a song's meaning set the boundaries of what audiences are allowed to hear.
Silence is not neutrality. It's a choice.
Your stage. His voice. His right.
Supporter Voices
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Petition created on September 11, 2026