Macklemore has released a new song in support of protests on college campuses around the world, denouncing the ongoing war in Gaza that has claimed thousands of lives over the past six months.
While many prestigious academic institutions in the United States have staged student-led pro-Palestinian demonstrations, Columbia University has been at the center of the movement. In April, a group of faculty, staff, students, alumni and allies took over the institution’s Hamilton Hall and renamed it “Hind’s Hall” in honor of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl who was tragically murdered by Israelis. Earlier this year, the National Defense Forces (IDF).
On Monday (May 6), the 40-year-old rapper released a single titled “Hind’s Hall” in solidarity with the nationwide demonstrations and pledged to donate all proceeds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East once it Available on streaming platforms.
“People they won’t leave / What’s the threat of defunding and wanting peace? / The problem isn’t protesting, it’s what they’re protesting / It goes against the purpose of funding our country,” he railed in a video montage of law enforcement officials College camps were uprooted. “Seal the roadblocks until Palestine is free/I learned my lesson when I was seven [Ice] What are Cube and Eazy-E/? Oh yeah, fuck the police.
He continues: “Who has the right to defend, who has the right to resist/It’s always been about the dollar and the color of the paint/But white supremacy finally breaks out, screaming ‘Free Palestine’ until they finally go home.
“We see their lies, claiming that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism / I see Jewish brothers and sisters out there riding / In solidarity and screaming ‘Free Palestine’ with them / Organize, forget to learn, and finally cut with The nation’s relations/must rely on apartheid to sustain the violent history of occupation that has been repeated over the past 75 years/the catastrophe has never ended, the colonizers lied.
Regarding most of his peers remaining silent on the matter, he added: “The music industry is quiet and complicit in their platform of silence/What happened to the artist, what do you have to say?/If I were a record Members of the company, you can drop me today / It doesn’t matter ’cause my heart is filling my page / I want a truce, fuck Drake’s response.
See the full track below:
Hynd Hall. Once launched, all proceeds will go to UNRWA. pic.twitter.com/QqZEKmzwZI
— Macklemore (@macklemore) May 6, 2024
Last year, Macklemore took to social media to explain his stance on the bloodshed in Palestine.
“When I say ‘Free Palestine,’ I’m not talking about anyone,” he said in late December. “What this actually means is that we should protect everyone. It means equality for all. Respect, peace and love. It means the right to live, no matter what sector you come from.
“My intention is to never offend anyone. I want every soul on this stage to feel the love shown. But there are innocent people in Gaza being killed with our dollars, and these precious lives are an extension of us .I can’t stand here and jump around in my fur coat and pretend…my gut is saying, “You know better, Ben. ” The ancestors shouted: “You better stand up for us!”
He concluded: “I love my Jewish brothers and sisters very much, and my view is that a ‘Free Palestine’ is also rooted in your protection, my love. There is not a drop of anti-Semitic thought in my mind or blood. ” Nor” means never again to everyone.
The “Thrift Shop” hitmaker previously made headlines when he took the stage at a pro-Palestinian rally in Washington, D.C.
“First and foremost, what I saw today was absolutely beautiful,” he told the crowd. “I didn’t expect to be in front of a microphone – there are thousands of people here who are more qualified than me to speak on the issue of a free Palestine.
“They told me to be quiet. They told me to do research, to go back, it’s too complicated to say, right? To be silent at this moment. In the last three weeks, I’ve gone back and done some research… I’m very educated .I don’t know enough, but I know enough to know that this is a genocide.
This is not the first time he has called Israel’s attack on Gaza a genocide. Days after the current war began, he shared a statement on Instagram advocating for non-violent de-escalation of conflict.
“My heart hurts deeply for the Israelis who have lost loved ones to something so abhorrent,” he began. “As a father, I can’t imagine if one of my children attended that festival [the Supernova music festival, attacked by Hamas], or are still missing after being kidnapped. This is absolutely unfathomable.
“[K]Harming humans in the form of collective punishment is not the answer. That’s why I support those around the world calling for ceasefires.
He added: “At this very moment, we are witnessing a genocide taking place in Palestine… Gaza is being destroyed. More than a million people have lost their homes… As I type this, innocent children are being murdered… Israel Water, food and medicine are not allowed into Gaza’s open-air prisons.
Tensions in the occupied territories have been at an all-time high since Hamas launched an attack in Israel in October that killed about 1,200 people. Since then, the IDF has launched an endless series of attacks along the 25-mile stretch. According to Time magazine, the death toll in the region exceeded 30,000 last month as living conditions continued to deteriorate.
