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Rapper Macklemore Donates Proceeds From New Anti-Israel Song to UN Agency Allegedly Linked to Oct. 7 Attack
Macklemore performs at Alcatraz Milan on May 3, 2023 in Milan, Italy. Photo: Roberto Finizio via Reuters Connect
Seattle-based rapper Macklemore said on Tuesday that he will donate all proceeds from his new song to a controversial UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees that has come under fire for 19 of its employees allegedly participating in the Hamas terrorist attacks across southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The American rapper, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, released on YouTube this week the music video for his new track Hind’s Hall. In the song, Macklemore, 40, raps about his avid support for students participating in anti-Israel protests at a number of university campuses across the US in recent weeks. He claims that the often violent protesters who chant for the destruction of Israel want “peace” and implies that the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks were an act of “resistance.”
“What is threatenin’ about divesting and wantin’ peace?” he raps at the start of the song. “The problem isn’t the protests, it’s what they’re protesting/It goes against what our country is funding/Block the barricade until Palestine is free … Screamin’ ‘Free Palestine’ ’til they’re home at last.” He also claims that antisemitism is not synonymous with anti-Zionism.
In January, Israel alleged that 12 employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were involved in the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, assisted in kidnapping Israelis that day, and had other close ties to Hamas. Israel said one UNRWA employee, a math teacher, was a Hamas operative who helped kidnap an Israeli soldier from Be’eri in southern Israel on Oct. 7 and assisted in the transfer of Hamas weapons and trucks. Israel said the math teacher had a “logistical position” in Hamas’ Deir el-Balah battalion, was involved in “receiving and holding hostages,” and was “seen photographing a female hostage.”
The UN has been probing the allegations in an ongoing investigation. Last month, a UN spokesperson said that one case had been closed and four others suspended, citing a lack of evidence.
As a result of the accusations, roughly 15 countries suspended funding to UNRWA, but some have since resumed their financial support for the agency. In recent months, the UN received information about seven more UNRWA employees allegedly involved in the Oct. 7 attacks. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also alleged that 1,468 UNRWA workers “are known to be active” members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group based in Gaza, and that 185 of them are “active in the military branches of Hamas.”
UNRWA has also been accused of inciting antisemitism, terrorism, and hatred of Israel in the textbooks it issues to Palestinians schools.
In Hind’s Hall, Macklemore raps about Israel: “A state that’s gotta rely on an apartheid system to uphold an occupyin’ violent/History been repeating for the last seventy-five/The Nakba never ended, the colonizer lied … Where does genocide land in your definition, huh?” The Grammy Award-winning rapper also called out politicians who support the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Christians United for Israel (CUFI).
The song’s title is a reference to Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall, the building that anti-Israel student protesters broke into and occupied in April. The student activists nicknamed the building “Hind’s Hall” to commemorate Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas terrorists controlling the region.
“What if you were in Gaza? What if those were your kids?” Macklemore raps in Hind’s Hall. “If the West was pretendin’ that you didn’t exist/you’d want the world to stand up and the students finally did/let’s get it.”
Clips of several Israel-supporting politicians are also used in the music video, including videos of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky,) Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Macklemore additionally raps about not wanting to vote for US President Joe Biden in the 2024 general election because of his support for Israel’s war against Hamas. “The blood is on your hands, Biden, we can see it all,” he raps.
While Hind’s Hall has been widely praised by anti-Israel activisits, it has also received backlash from many on social media, some of whom noted Macklemore’s past allegedly antisemitic behavior.
In 2014, the rapper performed on stage in Seattle while wearing a fake wig and beard, and an oversized prosthetic nose — an outfit choice that B’nai B’rith International said was “deeply offensive and propagates Jewish stereotypes.”
The post Rapper Macklemore Donates Proceeds From New Anti-Israel Song to UN Agency Allegedly Linked to Oct. 7 Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Lebanon Says It Is Beginning Disarmament of Palestinian Factions in Refugee Camps
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanon said on Thursday it was launching the planned disarmament of Palestinian factions in refugee camps, part of a wider effort to establish a state monopoly on arms.
The planned disarmament was starting with the handover of weapons on Thursday from the Burj al-Barajneh camp in Beirut to the Lebanese army, the Lebanese prime minister’s office said.
The move is meant to mark the start of a broader disarmament effort, with additional deliveries expected in the coming weeks from Burj al-Barajneh and other camps across the country, the office said in a statement.
An official from Fatah told Reuters that the only weapons being handed over so far were illegal arms that entered the camp 24 hours ago. TV footage showed army vehicles entering the camp ahead of a handover. Reuters could not independently verify what arms were being handed over.
As part of a truce with Israel struck in November and backed by the United States, Lebanon committed to restricting arms to six specific state security forces, in a challenge to Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim terror group Hezbollah.
The cabinet has tasked the army with drawing up a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms by the end of the year.
The initiative to disarm Palestinian factions is part of an agreement reached during a May 21 summit between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, which affirmed Lebanon‘s sovereignty and the principle that only the state should bear arms, the statement from the prime minister’s office said.
Two days later, Lebanese and Palestinian officials agreed on a timeline and mechanism for disarmament, the statement said.
Palestinian factions have long operated with relative autonomy in several of Lebanon‘s 12 refugee camps, which fall largely outside the jurisdiction of the Lebanese state. The latest handover represents the most serious bid in years to address weapons held inside the camps.
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Netanyahu Escalates Attack on Australia’s Albanese as Jewish Group Urges Calm
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday stepped up his personal attacks on Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese over his government’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, saying Albanese‘s political record had been damaged forever.
Diplomatic ties between Australia and Israel have soured since Albanese‘s center-left Labor government last week announced it would conditionally recognize Palestinian statehood, following similar moves by France, Britain, and Canada.
The decision prompted Netanyahu to launch a personal attack on Albanese, and he doubled down on his condemnation in an interview to be broadcast on Sky News Australia.
“I think his record is forever tarnished by the weakness that he showed in the face of this Hamas terrorist monsters,” Netanyahu said, after describing Albanese earlier this week as “a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”
Sky News Australia released the comments ahead of the broadcast of the full interview on Thursday at 8 pm (1000 GMT).
Albanese on Wednesday played down Netanyahu‘s criticisms, saying he did not “take these things personally” and that he treated the leaders of other countries with respect.
Last week, Albanese said the Israeli prime minister was “in denial” about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Israel has been waging a military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry in separate letters sent on Wednesday to both leaders urged them to discuss differences through diplomacy rather than public posturing.
“We write to express our deep dismay and concern at the recent ‘war of words,’” the letters said.
“If things need to be said publicly, they should be said using measured and seemly language befitting national leaders. Australia and Israel are mature democracies, and their governments need to act accordingly,” the council said.
Israel this week revoked the visas of Australian diplomats to the Palestinian Authority after Albanese‘s government canceled the visa of an Israeli lawmaker over remarks it considered controversial and inflammatory.
Israel’s military announced the first steps of an operation to take control of Gaza City on Wednesday, calling up tens of thousands of reservists despite many of Israel’s closest allies calling for it to reconsider.
The offensive began after Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 more hostage. Israel is currently considering a new ceasefire proposal.
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Iran Holds Military Drills After Big Losses in War With Israel
An Iranian missile is launched during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, Aug. 20, 2025. Photo: Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran on Thursday launched its first solo military exercises since its June war with Israel, state media reported, seeking to reassert an image of strength after suffering heavy losses.
Navy units of Iran‘s regular armed forces fired missiles and drones at open water targets in the Indian Ocean under the “Sustainable Power 1404” drill, state television reported.
“These drills take place around a month after the Iran-Russia drill under the name Casarex 2025 which took place in Iran‘s northern waters [Caspian Sea]. The Sustainable Power drills … are in Iran‘s southern waters,” state TV said.
Israel attacked Iran in a 12-day air war which the United States briefly joined, pounding key nuclear installations and killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
Israel largely destroyed Iran‘s air defenses during the war and much of its stockpile of ballistic weapons is believed to have been damaged by Israeli strikes.
Since then, the Islamic Republic has said it is ready to counter any future attacks.
“Any new adventure by the enemy will be faced with a strong slap,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to strike Iran again if it revives nuclear facilities including uranium enrichment plants.
Tehran suspended negotiations with Washington aimed at curbing the country’s nuclear ambitions after the Israeli and US airstrikes. Iran denies any intent to develop atomic bombs.
Iran believes the moment for “effective” nuclear talks with the US has not yet arrived, its top diplomat said on Wednesday, though Tehran would not completely cut off cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.