Kneecap have thrown their support behind Macklemore after he was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour.
The American rapper, real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, had been supporting Sheeran, 35, on the US leg of his Loop Tour.
During a show at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last week, Macklemore, 43, said that he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had not been forgotten, which led to a petition demanding he be removed from the remaining dates.
On Monday he posted on Instagram confirming that Sheeran and his team had then “made the decision to remove” him from the tour.
Since announcing he had been fired, the rapper has received support from fellow musicians, including Irish rap trio Kneecap.
Commenting on his post, they wrote: “Free Palestine. They can never silence the truth.”
They posted a photo with the rapper, which they captioned: “All love and solidarity to @macklemore. FREE PALESTINE.”
Irish singer CMAT posted photos of the Palestinian flag and wrote “Free Palestine”.
Paloma Faith said: “You are a rare and important voice … thank you for existing…. This is so articulate and so powerful. You are a hero xxx”
Reposting a comment Macklemore referenced in his post, Bob Vylan commented: “There is no thanks for a duty.”
Posting a lengthy statement, American rock band Garbage said Macklemore being dumped from the tour was “sheer madness”.
“This is so wildly unjust. Can I remind everyone that nothing Macklemore actually said was violent or hateful or remotely radical,” they wrote.
“Those who exile, silence and censor others are never the good guys. No matter what you tell yourself. Just because you ignore the truth doesn’t make the truth go away or make it any less potent.
“It is all so utterly obscene.”
American singer Kehlani wrote: “A LOT of the venues / owners are rallied together this way. honored to know you brother. adore you. behind you!!!!”
Australian singer Tones and I – real name Toni Watson – also said: “Love you Ben! Ten toes down. Proud of you.”
Greta Thunberg added: “Full solidarity and free Palestine. Artists’ very active silence in the face of injustice and genocide will not be forgotten.”
After posting a video of himself on stage during the concert, Macklemore said on social media that “wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial”.
In the post announcing he had been let go from the tour, Macklemore also said he was not a “victim”. He wrote: “The victims are the Palestinian people. The men, women and children who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence.
“More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today, and people will be killed tomorrow. I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don’t lose sight of that.”
Earlier this year Macklemore was also among more than 1,100 artists, musicians and cultural workers who called for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest over the inclusion of Israel.
The letter, co-ordinated by campaign group No Music For Genocide, was also signed by artists including Kneecap, Faith and Massive Attack.
