Macklemore withdraws from comments supporting Palestine... Ed Sheeran leaves tour one after another

(Seoul = Yonhap News) After American rapper Macklemore was pulled out of British pop star Ed Sheeran's US tour after making remarks in support of Palestine, the repercussions are growing, with fellow cast members leaving the tour one after another expressing their solidarity.

According to Reuters, Macklemore shouted "Freedom for Palestine" during a performance in New Jersey on the 4th (local time). Afterwards, when he was excluded from the tour due to intense pressure from stadium owners, opening performers including Phineas and Lucas Graham, as well as Sheeran's tour band, announced their withdrawal one after another in protest.

Ed Sheeran explained, “It wasn’t my decision,” and that it was the decision of the tour promoter and stadium management. Macklemore, who was excluded from the tour, announced that he would donate the entire net profit of $1 million (approximately 1.38 billion won) received in return for his appearance to a Palestinian relief organization.

The controversy over freedom of expression surrounding the Gaza War is also growing in Israeli politics.

On the 16th, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly targeted the production team of the documentary film 'NAZA', which reported the civilian casualties of the Gaza War, and announced that he would push for a bill to revoke citizenship and increase the amount of compensation for defamation by 20 times if one slanders the Israeli military abroad.

'Naja', which won the prize at this year's Venice International Film Festival, is a work that claims that large-scale civilian sacrifices were repeatedly reflected in the process of selecting attack targets for the Israeli military.

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