I’m Supporting Macklemore’s ‘Free Palestine’ Tour

by Irvin Muchnick

You probably have heard all about Ed Sheeran dumping Macklemore as an opening act for Sheeran’s current tour. Robert Kraft, billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts – and heavy-handed supporter of Israel and apologist for its genocide in Gaza – leaned on Sheeran to drop Macklemore. In sympathy and statement, all the other Sheeran opening acts, including Billie Eilish’s brother Finneas, pulled out.

I think the best that could be said about Sheeran is that he is way in over his head. Leaving aside the question of whether his aspiration of making only nice apolitical music is everyone’s cup of tea, there is still the little matter of the artistic freedom of his tour partners, and what it means when that freedom gets suppressed by powerful overlords. Sheeran obviously didn’t meet the moment.

I don’t know Macklemore’s music. I was inspired, however, by his immediate decision to leverage the controversy into a Free Palestine Tour of shows in Dublin (October 26), Paris (October 29), and London (October 30). He has since added a fourth date, Morrison, Colorado (October 22).

Wanting to do my own small part, I registered for the Dublin show presale. I have Irish friends and figured I could give one of them my ticket.

I’m not of the generation fluent in this process. The last time I was in a long queue for a concert, it was to get one of my daughters tickets for a 2020 BTS show in California. After a four-hour online wait, I scored the tickets, and submitted my father of the year application to the Nobel committee. (Unfortunately, the BTS show wound up getting canceled in the pandemic. My daughter was finally able to see BTS in Los Angeles on this year’s comeback tour.)

This time I had no chance. Live Nation’s Dublin presale began at 10 a.m. in Ireland – which is 2 a.m. in California. By the time I roused myself, I’d been shut out. The general sale a few days later quickly sold out, too. That, of course, is a good thing.

What I decided to do is to make a donation to one of the organizations to which Macklemore has pledged to donate all Free Palestine Tour proceeds. I chose the Middle East Children’s Alliance, because it’s based in my hometown and I have a number of friends who’ve both worked and volunteered for it. I understand that MECA is currently being harassed by the Trump administration and threatened with revocation of its tax-exempt status – surprise! For more about MECA, see https://www.mecaforpeace.org/.

Here’s the complete list of beneficiary groups for the Macklemore tour. I hope everyone will consider chipping in for this cause.

• Anera (American Near East Refugee Aid)
• Glia
• Gaza Soup Kitchen
• Taawon
• HEAL Palestine
• Palestinian Youth Movement
• Middle East Children’s Alliance
• Jewish Voice for Peace
• Medical Aid for Palestinians
• Institute for Middle East Understanding
• Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
• UNRWA USA (U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees)