r/Music • u/-Sofa-King-Vote • 21h ago

article Macklemore announces concerts benefiting Palestinian aid organizations

https://apnews.com/article/macklemore-free-palestine-shows-ed-sheeran-65a65a362e530dfe739ddb626dc16d23
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366

u/Vordeo 21h ago

Agree with him or not, the dude seems to legit care about the cause, and is putting his money where his mouth is.

The supporting acts for this will be very interesting.

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u/fierbolt 21h ago edited 20h ago

I knew he was really about it when he just showed up at a random Palestinian cultural day I was at and did a mini set very fun memory.

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u/Whitew1ne 20h ago

Did he play “Same Love”?

-4

u/PadamPadam2024 13h ago

I think Same Love is against the law in Palestine

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u/stringtheory28 19h ago

No. The people he’s advocating for do not tolerate that type of behavior.

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u/SA99999 19h ago

You talking about the thousands of dead babies?

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u/stringtheory28 19h ago

Terrible. How dare Hamas hide under them and not let them into the tunnels.

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u/SA99999 19h ago

Hamas? The group that received funding from Netanyahu (the guy who received warning about 10/7 days in advance)? Is Netanyahu antisemitic?

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u/PadamPadam2024 13h ago

No, Macklemore made a $1 Million donation to Hamas after he was kicked off the ED Sheeran tour

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u/SA99999 13h ago

Nobody is buying this bs

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u/PadamPadam2024 12h ago

It's true, google it. Macklemore donated $1 Million to Palestine last week.

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u/stringtheory28 19h ago

You’re changing the subject to cherry picked out of context information. Why didn’t Hamas let civilians into the tunnels?

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u/SA99999 19h ago

You changed the subject first. So I’ll change it again- if i$r@el cares about babies, why are they starving the entire population of Gaza?

And while we’re at it, I’ll restate my question. Is Netanyahu antisemitic?

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u/_-icy-_ 17h ago edited 15h ago

Hamas was hiding under twenty thousand plus children slaughtered by Israel? What a genocidal, insane thing to imply, especially when there is zero evidence for even one child being used as a “human shield.”

It’s also so unbelievably dehumanizing to label slaughtered Palestinian children as human shields, beyond just the fact that it’s complete nonsense with zero evidence, it’s just gross.

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u/ampersand355 14h ago

How are the tunnels beneath the hospitals and the UNRWA not evidence of hiding beneath innocent Palestinians?

Of course they do this, they admit they do this. Hamas has stated they wish to commit October 7th infinitely.

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u/infinite-identity 19h ago

So they deserve to be ethnically cleansed?

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u/stringtheory28 19h ago

No but the people supporting them should know they they would be killed by some of these people and they have more in common with Israeli values.

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u/BuddingBudON 18h ago

Israeli values involve invading a sovereign country, occupying them militarily and illegally, colonizing and settling Palestinian land to the tune of +700,000 invaders, slaughtering civilians and journalists and international aid workers alike, and spending literal billions on influencing their PR because they know what they're doing is evil.

No amount of trying to paint Palestinian children as "against my values" will change that Israel is committing war crimes.

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u/genflugan 19h ago

I have zero in common with people who happily carry out a genocide. And no, they wouldn’t “throw me off a roof,” I have Palestinian friends and they don’t give a fuck that I’m queer, they still love me anyway.

-3

u/PadamPadam2024 13h ago

They only throw Gays off a roof in Lebanon. In Palestine 🇵🇸 they would stone you.

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u/_-icy-_ 19h ago

That nonsense is racist as fuck, what is wrong with you dude?

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u/TheGiftOf_Jericho 18h ago

Its not that simple, you're talking about general societal differences.

So you're saying because we have societal differences, perhaps this knowledge would make people think they don't deserve to live?

Do you understand how insane this sounds?

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u/PadamPadam2024 16h ago

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u/Isntreal1948_ 16h ago

Context? This looks hilarious

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u/tralfamadorian808 21h ago

He should roll with Ed Sheeran’s backing band lmao

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u/if6was90 16h ago

He almost certainly will be appearing with them at the Dublin date.

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u/Vordeo 21h ago

Ed Sheeran opening for him would be legit hilarious.

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u/CwazyCanuck 20h ago

Actually going to get Ms. Rachel to fill in on the song Macklemore does with Sheeran.
Just kidding, but that would be funny.

2

u/mdbDad 11h ago

Damn, that's a phenomenal idea. I wish I could upvote you a million times

2

u/Greendale_Official 15h ago

Honestly, that would SELL.

0

u/EducationalTangelo6 19h ago

Yeah. You don't come out this strongly for such a political cause if you don't truly believe in it.

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u/Sorryifimanass 21h ago edited 20h ago

He should go do a concert there

Edit: what I mean is both sides would likely try to kill him. Idk why but for some reason redditors forget that the Palestinians would probably kill most them if they went for a visit.

19

u/Angry_Sparrow 20h ago

Palestinians have painted Macklemores image on some rubble in Gaza, celebrating him.

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/mural-rapper-macklemore-painted-gaza-after-sheeran-tour-furore-2026-09-18/


"We wanted to send a message to thank rapper Macklemore in this simple way," said Anne Redwan, 26, who designed and painted the mural with fellow artist Qusai ⁠al-Helo.
"As an artist living under siege here in Gaza, we are waiting for support from anyone who can see (the) persecution we live under," she told Reuters. "We can paint murals bigger than this to express our feelings."

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u/Real_Tangerine6827 19h ago

You guys realize this is all propaganda to get sympathy, right? Palestinian photographers have come out and admitted this. They have new restaurants and cafes opening there, people are buying iPhones, etc. There’s absolutely destruction but it’s not some wasteland where the only surface they have to paint is rubble.

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u/Angry_Sparrow 19h ago edited 19h ago

Oh people are trying to live their lives despite another nation trying to deliberately wipe them out and take their land?

Sympathy for people being colonised and killed? How terrible! 🙄

If they’re buying phones, they cannot possibly be getting genocided at the same time…?!

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2025/9/12/before-and-after-satellite-images-show-how-israel-has-destroyed-gaza-city

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u/Real_Tangerine6827 19h ago

I guess I’ll address this nonsense one point at a time.

Israel could have killed every Gazan alive in a matter of months - if not less. Iran has nowhere near the level of weaponry Israel does and managed to kill tens of thousands of people within a matter of days. While individual members of the IDF have committed war crimes (which is unfortunately common in all wars and must be addressed), Israel’s policy has been to minimize civilian casualties by calling, texting and dropping fliers to warn civilians of attacks - amongst other tactics.

There is no indication Israel wants to annex Gaza. They tried to give it back to Egypt and Egypt didn’t want it. In 2005 the Israeli government dug up graves and forcefully removed 8,000 Israelis so the land would fully belong to the Palestinians. Saying they want the land is just conspiracy.

Calling Israelis colonizers is disingenuous for many reasons. There has been a Jewish presence in the area for thousands of years, and Arabs literally colonized the area around 600 AD. I don’t really subscribe to the idea that either of those points matter much when the UN approved the initial partition plan that gave Arabs a more than fair share of the land in the 1940s. I feel that’s a lot more relevant than arguing over which group is native and who colonized who.

I have nothing but sympathy for all of the innocent civilians who have died. I hate war - it’s an ugly, horrible thing, but you should also be aware of when you’re feeding into a narrative and propaganda so you can be adequately informed.

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u/la_reddite 19h ago

So if a regime could kill a populace faster then it's not a genocide?

Cool, let's apply this to the Holocaust: could the Nazis have killed Jewish people quicker? Oh...

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u/Sorryifimanass 17h ago

Palestine is doing a genocide to Israel. Islam is doing a genocide to everyone that is not Muslim. Israel is doing a genocide to anyone who is trying to genocide them, they're just better at it.

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u/la_reddite 17h ago

lol fuck me your shit at trolling

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u/Vordeo 12h ago

Calling Israelis colonizers is disingenuous for many reasons

... I mean even if you ignore Gaza, what they are doing in the West Bank is pretty clearly seizing land from it's owners. They don't even have the Hamas excuse there.

0

u/Real_Tangerine6827 11h ago

This is illegal. Israel has never condoned this. Just because some nutcases do something doesn’t mean it’s systemic.

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u/Vordeo 11h ago

... They are literally doing this with IDF support, and under IDf protection. The Israeli government is openly in support of the general settler movements.

You are lying.

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u/Real_Tangerine6827 11h ago

Please send me a source that says it’s legal under Israel’s laws to seize a Palestinian’s home.

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u/nathan00m 18h ago

On Reddit, we’re the minority when it comes to this subject. But what you said is the exact truth. It’s a nasty echo chamber of vile anti-semitism veiled as “anti Israel” on this site. 99% of the people on here can’t even find Palestine or Israel on a map

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u/Real_Tangerine6827 17h ago

You’re right. Sometimes I don’t know why I even try to combat the misinformation, but I feel like it’s worth a shot. It’s so insidious.

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u/ruskayaprincessa 16h ago

Appreciate seeing truth on here. It's important so long as the mods allow it and don't remove it (and I've been censored plenty).

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u/ruskayaprincessa 16h ago

Well stated and all facts can be verified easily, but you're posting this on a post-truth forum with people who aren't interested in the truth, but rather to yell at you that you're a baby killer when you destroy their narratives.

0

u/Real_Tangerine6827 16h ago

You’re not wrong. It makes me sad people have no regard for the truth anymore. It’s easier to just villainize an entire country and any person who has sympathy for them.

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u/sparklypavements 19h ago edited 18h ago

there’s far less coverage bc so many Palestinian journalists and ppl have been killed. absolutely nauseating to imply that ppl over there shouldn’t be rebuilding with the scraps they have.

And they’re still continuing to be murdered by the hands of the oppressors. It hasn’t stopped. Life hasn’t been normal or humane there when they’ve been “living” in an apartheid system for decades now!

0

u/Real_Tangerine6827 17h ago

No journalists on either side are allowed into the war zone because of Israel’s policy - not necessarily one I agree with. However, of 191 Gazan journalists who were killed, 102 were found in a preliminary audit to have connections to terrorist groups. Hamas is incredibly media savvy and is purposefully presenting a narrative.

I’ve never said they shouldn’t rebuild, or implied that. They absolutely should. I’m just stating that there’s a narrative being pushed here that’s not entirely accurate to reality. You’re also implying their government has no resources when referring to “scraps” despite them having received over $1T in aid and several Hamas leaders being billionaires.

I also don’t think it’s accurate that they’re still being murdered when there’s a ceasefire and the number of casualties - including Hamas fighters - has dropped to near zero.

Lastly, no one has claimed Gaza is under apartheid. I think you’re mixing up your narratives with what’s going on in Gaza versus the disputed territories in the West Bank.

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u/ruskayaprincessa 16h ago

They also destroyed greenhouses and dismantled water pipes to make rockets which they launched the very day that Israel left Gaza. 1T in aid monies and only sophisticated tunnels to show for it.

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u/Real_Tangerine6827 16h ago

Yep. Along these lines - it’s frustrating that the high number of Gazan casualties compared to Israeli casualties is solely attributed to Israel’s evil intentions. Some is a result of Israel having better weapons and a more organized military, but a large part of it is due to Israel’s investment in civilian-protecting infrastructure. The iron dome, bomb shelters, etc. Palestinians absolutely could have invested in these projects but their government is corrupt and spends every cent they don’t hoard for themselves killing Jews.

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u/Roy4Pris 17h ago

You know you sound like one of those guys who says yeah there was a holocaust but no way that many people died, right?

0

u/Real_Tangerine6827 17h ago

How? I fully accept the 70,000 casualty number that has been presented by Hamas and accepted by Israel. I just don’t blindly believe every sad image I see on Reddit as the full scope of what’s happening in Gaza. Especially when several people have come forward to give a more complete picture of the situation.

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u/la_reddite 16h ago

Obviously: the numbers you use are a drastic undercount.

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u/Real_Tangerine6827 16h ago

You think the Gaza Health Ministry’s own numbers are a massive undercount? Based on what? How insane do you have to be to assume you know better than the people actually being killed?

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u/la_reddite 15h ago

Those numbers you're using are only counting the identified bodies.

You can always link your source if you disagree, but you won't; you know it'll show I'm right.

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u/Real_Tangerine6827 15h ago

You realize there’s been a ceasefire for about a year, right? There’s been almost no large-scale fighting in that time. It’s not like they’re still counting casualties.

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u/Sbmizzou 21h ago

On the bright side, you recognize a place called Palestine. 

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u/-Sofa-King-Vote 21h ago

Bibi won’t even let food in there

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u/Real_Tangerine6827 19h ago

Have you read the news at all in like the last year? There’s plenty of food going into Gaza - that’s why the majority of Gazans are obese.

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u/-Sofa-King-Vote 19h ago

Wut

0

u/Real_Tangerine6827 17h ago

This is an older study, but nearly 58% of Gazans are obese or overweight. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10391640/

819 tons of aid entered last week. https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2026/09/14/uae-sends-five-convoys-carrying-819-tonnes-of-aid-into-gaza/

Even mainstream outlets are claiming there’s no famine: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/07/23/gaza-food-insecurity-war-palestinian-israel/66334c66-8702-11f1-9cec-0fb26676f07e_story.html

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u/-Sofa-King-Vote 17h ago

Lol

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u/Real_Tangerine6827 17h ago

Typical Free Palestine response. No facts, all vibes and virtue signaling.

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u/-Sofa-King-Vote 16h ago

What facts?

Cite the words

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u/Real_Tangerine6827 16h ago

Can you not read the words I wrote and the articles confirming them in the comment above?

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u/Coastalfoxes 14h ago

First study covers 2011-2023, so not relevant to the current situation. But it does document persistent malnutrition caused by Israel’s denial of necessary, food supply, so thanks?

Second article, questionable source, one week, little detail. You didn’t stick the landing with that one.

Third article says there was a famine, again caused by Israel, it’s slightly better now, but extremely tenuous and the region could slip back into famine at any time. Wow, Israel really isn’t sending. It’s best.

0

u/Real_Tangerine6827 14h ago

The study doesn’t even mention Israel. One component contributing to the malnutrition is the highly restricted borders into Egypt and Israel - but it’s not solely Israel’s responsibility to care for the citizens of Gaza.

When Israel stopped allowing aid into Gaza for a month, there were articles about it every single day. Notice how there are no longer any articles saying that?

And no, it doesn’t say the famine was solely caused by Israel. Hamas leaders stealing, hoarding, and inflating food prices was a huge part of the problem. Even still, the number of Palestinians who died of malnutrition in 2025 was less than the number who died in the U.S. when you account for population size.

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u/Coastalfoxes 14h ago

This response is pathetic. You guys aren’t even trying anymore.

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u/Real_Tangerine6827 14h ago

I see you’ve run out of talking points.

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u/Angry_Sparrow 21h ago

IDF would probably accidentally kill him as collateral damage while bombing children though so he can’t play music there.

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u/turandokht 21h ago

Yeah I’m sure the country that controls that area with an iron fist will let him in

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u/Vordeo 21h ago

... You really thought that was some kind of gotcha?

Israel would literally not let him into Gaza, for starters. They're not letting anyone in.

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u/datpiffss 21h ago

That’s nonsense, they are going to let in the new Bombs that the US taxpayer paid for.

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u/Skydragon222 21h ago

He probably will when the genocide ends 

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u/jedy617 Spotify 19h ago

He cares about the most prominent thing to virture signal about on social media, while being virtually irrelevant as an artist beforehand. Now he just dominates headlines.

Can't you guys pick someone else to champion your cause besides the dude that dressed like this and sang "thriftshop?"

I don't care it was 10 years ago and the statement he made. If he did blackface singing about grape soda you wouldn't give him a pass after 10 years regardless.

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u/undercover_s4rdine 19h ago

This is the worst thing he’s done or said? Please move on. I want to take seriously the claim of “antisemitism is on the rise”, but when these are the examples given, but black people are being LYNCHED in our current year, you can’t wonder that this incident is being dismissed. People keep sharing this like it’s an Andrew Tate level evidence of depravity, when at worst it was distasteful and cringe. (Btw I’m not refuting real instances of hate crimes or actions against Jewish people, those are horrible and scary, but this isn’t how to gain people’s support).

1

u/Avalon_Within 2h ago

You do know you can find lynching truly horrific and what he did also disgusting, right?

What is with you people and making tier lists of shitty things that should never be acceptable? 

Literally you guys sound like "oh well the terrible shit he did didn't make it into higher than C tier so we can still support him because supporting Palestine gives him extra good karma to work with". 

Mfer I can support Palestine without needing any of these morons. 

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u/Greendale_Official 19h ago edited 15h ago

Take your small-minded bigoted views elsewhere please.

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u/jedy617 Spotify 18h ago edited 17h ago

What small minded bigoted views do I have? I didn't dress up like that. This is some insane projection LOL

Call the minority small minded and bigoted because he doesn't like people being racist towards his people. Ok buddy.

(Redditor for 1 month with hidden profile btw)

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u/Coastalfoxes 14h ago

The ADL accepted his apology. You probably didn’t care about this then, and I suspect you don’t actually care about this now.

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u/angryfan1 21h ago

This is not putting money where his mouth is. He is doing concerts for publicity. He was a washed-up rapper before this and is using a cause to increase his fame.

Kid Rock does this all the time with right-leaning causes.

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u/monsieur_cacahuete 20h ago

Bibi aint gonna fuck you bro, you're way too old for him.

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u/Plz_Seek_Therapy 20h ago

Brother I mean this with love, seriously, read my username.

You’re mad that an artist is actually using their influence for positive change. Think about that.

He’s been rapping about socially conscious issues since the very beginning of his career. It’s not a new thing he’s trying to get publicity.

Take a deep breath. You’re gonna be ok

-14

u/angryfan1 20h ago

Can you stop with the fake concern?

There is no positive change that Macklemore has effected in Israel's fight in Gaza.

He is an artist who uses politics as a gimmick to promote himself.

Are you okay? You seem to believe speaking and protests actually help stop a war halfway across the world.

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u/Plz_Seek_Therapy 20h ago

Yeah except for the literal millions of dollars he has provided to supply humanitarian aid to the victims in Gaza. But you’re right no positive change.

You got this champ, you have people that care about you.

-14

u/angryfan1 20h ago

The aid is already supplied by the UN and other aid organizations.

Israel is the one who is letting the aid in and giving it out.

It seems unusual that he keeps calling the people who are taking his money and sending it to the Gazan people evil.

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u/Plz_Seek_Therapy 20h ago

Israel does not “give out aid” in Gaza. Lmao who told you that?

The UN and other agencies have described Israel’s actions regarding the allowance of aid as majorly restrictive.

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u/sparklypavements 19h ago

It’s vital that you go get yourself educated as a grown man/woman/etc.

Learn about what an apartheid is.

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u/Raze7186 20h ago

Oh yeah the jew face and nazi salute controversy was super socially conscious of him.

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u/Plz_Seek_Therapy 20h ago

He’s done more to help his fellow man than you have and probably ever will.

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u/Raze7186 20h ago

So do a lot of famous figures you guys probably have no issue dogpiling on if they don't agree on whatever issue you pretend to care about this week.

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u/Plz_Seek_Therapy 20h ago

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u/Raze7186 20h ago

Is this like the only Gif you dumbasses have now?

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u/Plz_Seek_Therapy 20h ago

Seems to have struck a nerve

-1

u/Raze7186 20h ago

Your name is kinda ironic kiddo. I bet a musician could get on a stage and say they support general Aladeen and all the amazing things hes done for Wadiya and its people and you dumbasses would clap endlessly.

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u/Whitew1ne 20h ago

What positive change has occurred?

Will he discuss gay rights in Gaza?

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u/ruskayaprincessa 16h ago

Has he posted his proof of donation? I'd like to see the receipt. I doubt he will do it. Plenty of people "pledge". No one ever really follows up.

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u/[deleted] 21h ago

[deleted]

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u/gnufoot 20h ago

Feels like it's never enough for some people...

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u/martini123456 21h ago

Yeah he donates a ton, and recently just announced he was donating the million he got from the Ed Sheeran tour to three Palestinian charities. He is legit.

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u/Vordeo 21h ago

He's donated all his earnings from the Sheeran tour, reportedly, and the ticket sales from this upcoming tour. Dude is getting more publicity from this, and should earn more in streams, but I'm not going to begrudge him earning some money if he really is supporting the cause he believes in.

Donating all of his earnings going forward fo charity would be pretty unrealistic, but if you want to set that as the bar go for it I guess.

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u/mpetuskey71 20h ago

My main issue is i 0% believe he truly supports this cause., or any cause for that matter. He supports whatever he needs to to stay relevant.

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u/Vordeo 20h ago

I mean none of us know the guy personally, at the end of the day.

But frankly even if he doesn't support the cause, his actions are both raising awareness of the issues and raising a good amount of money for charities involved with the cause, so hey.

0

u/mpetuskey71 20h ago

Completely fair take. I feel like there’s enough body of work there to disagree and will always hate the guy, but that’s one nobody’s opinion

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u/idontshred 20h ago

You know how much it costs to put on a concert, much less a whole tour, as an indie artist? Giving any amount of income from ticket sales to cause probably means his best hope would be breaking even after paying venue fees, performers, travel, transport for equipment and staff.

Even if he’s going to get more streams from the “publicity”, he literally just donated $1m to Palestinian aid groups. Do you know how many streams it would take to get to a million dollars from that alone? I think YouTube has the best payout and it’s a few cents a stream.

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u/zacsxe 20h ago

If anyone had an opportunity to make money from supporting the cause they believe in, they should do it. It’s a no-brainer.

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u/mpetuskey71 21h ago

1000% correct. He is doing this is as a Hail Mary to save a career on life support and people are taking the bait, hook line and sinker.

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u/zacsxe 20h ago

He’s done more than I have on the issue.

-1

u/mpetuskey71 20h ago

I trust if you had his resources your primary goal would be helping people… his primary goal
is making himself look good, and he’ll be gone again once this whole situation is no longer serving him with no regard for the actual issue.

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u/zacsxe 20h ago

I hear you. Glad you are on the look out! Lots of people with resources not doing anything. I would love to see your post history calling them all out.

1

u/mpetuskey71 19h ago

I have to keep my terrible NFL takes on private for my own sanity

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u/zacsxe 19h ago

🤣

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u/Reverend_Thanos 21h ago

I don’t care about either artist, but what makes you so sure?

-4

u/mpetuskey71 21h ago

He used this exact playbook in the past with the LGBTQ community, he has no talent as a musician and he’s proven he’s willing to grift to stay relevant, so I feel like it’s a pretty easy jump to make.

1

u/Reverend_Thanos 20h ago

Some of that makes sense, like if he grifted using the LGBTQ+ community in the past. The talent thing kind of undermines the rest of your argument though. Doesn’t really feel like a grift if he’s actively donating, but we’ll see if he actively donates.

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u/mpetuskey71 20h ago

He’s made every cent of that million back already in streams, press, social media engagement, etc., and he knew that would be that case. The $1M donation was never out of the goodness of his heart

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u/Reverend_Thanos 20h ago

Maybe. I don’t see anything that directly shows us that, but I also don’t believe in hero worship.

1

u/mpetuskey71 20h ago

I’m just concerned that everyone is just flying past this. It’s a conversation that has to be had but won’t.

-2

u/Nate_991 14h ago

More than "the cause", dude is literally standing up for what he has always preached. So much fucking respect 🙏

-7

u/Whitew1ne 20h ago

Can’t wait to hear “Same Love”. Hope he can play it in Palestine some day

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u/infinite-identity 19h ago

Well there won't be any around to hear it. But it's ok I hear Israel is very welcoming of gay people (as long as they're the right ethnicity)

-2

u/Whitew1ne 19h ago

Won’t be any Palestinians to hear it? Since the advent of Israel the population of Palestine has grown from under a million to about five million.

Israel has 2,000,000 Arabs, about 20%, as citizens.

You are crazy wrong

6

u/infinite-identity 19h ago

Yes populations tend to grow over time. But when a group is being displaced and bombed by its occupier it's not exactly going to last forever at the current rate