Macklemore’s ‘Free Palestine’ tour will benefit group that called 7 October a ‘prison break’

JTA – Macklemore, the rapper of hits such as Thrift Shop and Can’t Hold Us, is facing backlash from Jewish organisations over plans to donate proceeds from his upcoming concert tour to the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), which described the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on Israel as a “prison break”. 

The rapper was dropped on 14 September from an opening slot on Ed Sheeran’s US stadium tour after making pro-Palestinian remarks onstage. He announced his “Free Palestine” tour on 24 September, pledging that all proceeds would benefit organisations supporting Palestinians. PYM is among 12 organisations named as beneficiaries. 

The tour includes concerts in Dublin on 26 October, Paris on 29 October, and London on 30 October. 

Macklemore received a surge of support after being dropped from Sheeran’s tour, with all of Sheeran’s remaining opening acts quitting in solidarity. He said on Instagram that the “Free Palestine” tour “sold out immediately”. 

PYM is a grassroots movement of Palestinian and Arab youth in the United States, Canada, and Britain. On 7 October 2024, the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks, the group described the assault as a “prison break” and called the fighters “the men who broke through”, in an essay published in The New Inquiry. 

“Those fighters had trained for months, and now found themselves stepping foot onto the same hills and plains that their grandfathers and grandmothers had lived upon,” said PYM, without mentioning the killing and abduction of Israeli civilians. 

PYM also said a week after the attacks, “Understand Palestinian resistance as fundamentally just and as a means of survival for our people; it will not stop in the weeks and months to come, and you must be prepared not to waver again.” 

Jewish and pro-Israel groups have slammed Macklemore for supporting PYM. The Jewish Leadership Council, which represents British Jewish and pro-Israel groups, told The Jewish Chronicle, “When the PYM describes the 7 October massacre as a ‘prison break’, it risks legitimising violence against Jews.” 

The Israeli-American Council, which petitioned Sheeran to drop Macklemore, told Fox News Digital that “Live Nation [entertainment company] and the concert organisers must now publicly explain their vetting process and ensure that concert proceeds do not benefit organisations that justify violence against innocent civilians”. 

Macklemore, Live Nation, and the PYM did not immediately respond to requests for comment.