Macklemore, Aurora unite at Paris Free Palestine Tour

By Tom Whitfield

The sold-out Paris show on Thursday night was the second stop of Macklemore’s Free Palestine Tour, with nine named artists and three guest speakers joining the Seattle rapper in support of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

The tour followed Macklemore’s removal from Ed Sheeran’s stadium run for onstage statements in support of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Its Monday launch in Dublin featured Hozier, Kneecap and Boega, the backing band that dropped out of Sheeran’s tour in solidarity with Macklemore. Macklemore was due to conclude the charity series in London on Friday.

The Paris bill named nine artists who shared the stage with Macklemore:

• Aurora
• DJ Habibeats
• Pomme
• Portugal The Man
• Redvell
• Siba
• Tamer Nafar
• Xiuhtezcati Martinez
• Zeyne

Aurora sang “The Seed,” a track from her third studio album, A Different Kind of Human (Step 2).

Macklemore addressed the sold-out crowd:

“All the artists, all the speakers that have come together with one common goal, which is a free Palestine,” Macklemore declared as the sold-out crowd roared.

“You cannot, you cannot erase a people’s history by ignoring it. We are in a moment right now. We are in a moment right now, a collective awakening, remembering who we are.”

“We have been passed down trauma. We have been passed down borders that existed before we were born: hatred, fear, division, scarcity, lies we have inherited that block us from remembering our true heart.”

He pressed on:

“I look at the news. I watch the stories. I look at the erasure. We’ve all seen, we’ve all seen a live-streamed genocide for the past three years in the palm of our hand. You cannot, you cannot dehumanize another human being without dehumanizing yourself.”

Macklemore also performed Rudimental’s “These Days,” whose original recording featured British singers Jess Glynne and Dan Caplen alongside the rapper. He performed “Can’t Hold Us,” from his debut album The Heist.

During the song’s bridge, Macklemore jumped the barricade separating the stage from the audience. He was temporarily lifted into the air as green and red confetti, the colors of the Palestinian flag, blanketed the sold-out crowd.

Macklemore also invited Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, Carice van Houten and Francesca Albanese to the stage. Albanese, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, has been appointed to monitor and document the human rights situation in the region.

Albanese delivered an appeal to those watching:

“Palestinian steadfastness” has awakened millions to “the horror of the world we inherited, and the possibility to change this world,” Albanese said.

“To those who shield the powerful and threaten those who refuse silence, I have three words for you: work with us, not against us, and do that for you and for your children,” she continued.

“Let’s dance together, beautifully diverse in language, in faith, in gender, in love, in history. Let’s think together, move together, act together, dance together, dream together. Let’s turn awakening into organization, outreach into solidarity, and solidarity into action.”

What does the tour change for the seven beneficiary groups?

The Free Palestine Tour says proceeds from the shows will support seven organizations supporting the Palestinian movement:

• Medical Aid for Palestinians
• Palestinian Youth Movement
• Heal Palestine
• Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
• Gaza Soup Kitchen
• Jewish Voices for Peace
• UNRWA USA National Committee

The concrete change is a fundraising commitment, not a measured outcome. The tour names recipients but provides no gross proceeds figure, per-organization allocation or timetable, so it does not show what any one group will receive.

Friday’s London finale is the next scheduled point in the series. Measurement will require a proceeds total and beneficiary allocation, and neither figure is yet specified.