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Macklemore Clarifies ‘F—k America’ Comment While Further Accusing Israel of ‘Genocide’
Macklemore performing on stage at Rock In Rio Lisbon, in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 22, 2024. Photo: Nuno Cruz via Reuters Connect
The rapper Macklemore took to social media on Wednesday to address the controversy surrounding the “F—k America” comment he made at a pro-Palestinian concert in Seattle, Washington on Saturday.
The “Thrift Shop” singer posted a lengthy statement on Instagram in which he also talked about his “unwavering” support “for a Free Palestine” and slammed the United States for supporting Israel, which he claimed is committing a “genocide” against Palestinians during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, began by tried to explain his mindset leading up to his performance on Saturday night at the Palestine Will Live Forever Festival where he shouted “F—k America.”
“My thoughts and feelings are not always expressed perfectly or politely. Sometimes I slip up and get caught in the moment. Saturday night was one of those times,” he said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the historic event in my hometown that brought thousands of people together to raise awareness and money for the people of Palestine has become overshadowed by two words. I wish I had been in a better place with my grief and anger.”
The Seattle-based rapper then explained he has not been “OK” since the Israel-Hamas war started, following the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel, and turned his attention to Israel’s military actions during the war.
“The last 11.5 months of watching a genocide unfold in front of us has been excruciating on a spiritual, emotional, and human level. I have been in utter disbelief with how our government is showing up at this moment in history. I don’t think I’m alone,” he wrote, before discussing “US manufactured bombs” that “murder” children in Gaza. He said he is angry at the US government and falsely accused Washington, DC of sending billions of dollars to Israel “to commit internationally recognized war crimes” as well as weapons used by Israel “to kill the children of Palestine.”
“I have been disillusioned and disheartened as our government has continued to unequivocally fund and support Israel’s ongoing violence against the people of Palestine,” he wrote. “Some days I don’t know how to love something that is hurting others so much. I don’t think I’m alone.” He further praised anti-Israel protesters on the streets and on college and university campuses.
“And some days I wake up, see another couple billion dollars given to Israel, or another refugee encampment destroyed, or a father holding a limb from his martyred child, or another speech from a politician justifying the right of Israel to ‘defend itself’ while denying Palestinians the right to exist, and I say to myself … F— America.’ I don’t think I’m alone,” he added.
Macklemore concluded his statement, “I’ve slipped in front of the world before. I’m sure I’ll do it again. But they will not silence my voice, and they will not close my heart. I’ve lost endorsements, I’ve lost shows, I’ve lost business ties. I am still here, unwavering in my support for a Free Palestine. I care about humanity and this earth too much to turn back now. My intent always comes back to the pursuit of peace, love, equality, and liberation for all. And that isn’t radical, it’s human. I don’t think I’m alone.”
Macklemore was dropped from the lineup of Las Vegas’s Neon City Festival on Tuesday because of his comments over the weekend. Two Seattle-based sports teams that he co-owns denounced his remarks and said they were reevaluating their relationship with the rapper.
Macklemore performed at the Palestine Will Live Forever Festival his new pro-Palestinian song “Hind’s Hall 2,” a follow-up to his song “Hind’s Hall” released in May that celebrated the anti-Israel protests taking place at college and university campuses. Proceeds from both songs are being given to the United Nations Relief and Words Agency (UNRWA), which faced allegations investigated by the UN that several of its employees participated in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.
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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd
Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
i24 News – A suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.
Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.
The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister
A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.
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Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.