Debate about rapper Macklemore: Final phase of protest

Anyone who needs the mumblings of Sahra Wagenknecht and parts of the Berlin Left Party on the subject of Israel will certainly not be able to ignore Macklemore. The US artist has been playing the role of anti-Semite for around 15 years.

He repeatedly expresses his deep contempt for Israel in songs and announcements at concerts. To do this, he clearly uses anti-Jewish stereotypes, such as those used by the Nazis in propaganda films and caricatures in the 1930s. My colleague Alexander Diehl has already conducted a critical interview about this in 2025. Everything that needed to be said about this sad case was said then.

In any case, the exuberant current reporting on this is disproportionate to the subordinate artistic significance of Macklemore and the trigger.

The softener Brit Ed Sheeran dumped Macklemore from the opening act of a concert in the USA. If you approach the matter seriously, this is nothing more than a boring PR stunt from a parallel world of stadium rock. Because the horrible musical visitation, the moral and aesthetic bankruptcy that emerge from Macklemore's dreary performance as a rapper have nothing to do with hip hop as credible protest music.

The Israel-Palestine conflict is discussed controversially, especially in left-wing circles. There are also some fundamentally different positions on this in the taz. In this section you will find all comments and debate contributions on the topic of the Middle East.

Macklemore's tendentious stance is merely a symbol of a completely different, far worse crisis: that of the US left. Even in Donald Trump's second term as US President, they have not been able to even halfway organize the country and unite it in the daily, grueling resistance against the erratic leader and his immigration police, ICE.

Where are the memorable actions, the big tours against Trump and the bizarre MAGA world? Where is the nationwide solidarity with Haitians and all other migrant groups who are illegally arrested by ICE thugs and illegally deported from the USA, for example to the Central African Republic?

It's almost as if the Middle East conflict provides a welcome distraction from home-grown problems. Dr. Freud, please take over! As with many other artists, with Macklemore “Free Palestine” is only the final stage of protest, a slogan without consequences.

It is only with difficulty that it masks the powerlessness and resignation in its own country. No one in the West Bank will feel better about Macklemore chanting on stage again. And no one will be any wiser from one-sided texts about him.