RSS
Macklemore’s Music Video for New Anti-Israel Protest Song ‘F—ked Up’ Compares West Bank to Holocaust
Macklemore performing on stage at Rock In Rio Lisbon, in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 22, 2024. Photo: Nuno Cruz via Reuters Connect
American rapper Macklemore debuted on Wednesday the music video for his latest anti-Israel song, in which he again accuses the Jewish state of genocide, voices support for anti-Israel protests, and calls Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “colonizer.”
In the music video for “F—ked Up,” the Grammy-winning rapper, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, shows images comparing Palestinian struggles in the West Bank, during the recent Israel-Hamas war, to what Jews experienced in the Holocaust. Toward the end of the music video, a clip of a Palestinian child in the West Bank city of Jenin walking with his hands raised is juxtaposed with the infamous photo of a Jewish child raising his hands in the Warsaw Ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland, as an SS officer aims his machine gun at him. While the two children appear on the screen, Macklemore raps: “If you still haven’t said s—t about the genocide, know your grandkids one day are gonna ask you why.”
Earlier in the music video, there is a side-by-side that compares apartheid in South Africa to apartheid in “Palestine.” The music video includes several clips and photos from pro-Palestinian protests, anti-Netanyahu rallies, and demonstrations by Jews who support a “Free Palestine.” The video additionally features an image of a puzzle that illustrates the Israeli flag intertwined with a $100 bill.
In the song, Macklemore repeatedly criticizes US support for Israel. The Seattle-based rapper claims US military aid to Israel is connected to income issues in the US, and references Trump’s proposal for the US to take over Gaza.
“New era ushered, but white supremacy is still in charge. Talking colonizing Gaza from the White House lawn. But the people mobing and we ain’t backing off,” Macklemore raps. “Ya’ll killing Palestinian kids and we gettin’ hit with the cost. Why the f—k you think you can’t afford the rent in your building? And you can’t afford groceries?” He also raps, “f—k ICE, free Congo, Sudan and Palestine.”
While an image of Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is shown on the screen, Macklemore raps: “You can bomb a mosque, but you can’t bomb faith. You can kill people, but resistance grows in the wake. And while our president sends billions to Israel’s safes, ethnic cleansing’s never gonna make Israelis feel safe. More blood, more weapons. More money, more oppression. More hate, more fear. More walls and more settlements.”
Elsewhere in the song, he raps, “Elon, we know exactly what that was,” in reference to Tesla and X owner Elon Musk, and the hand gesture he made at US President Donald Trump’s inauguration rally in January that appeared to resemble a Nazi salute.
Last year, Macklemore released two anti-Israel songs criticizing the Jewish state for its actions during the Israel-Hamas war, which started in response to the deadly Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. His song “Hind’s Hall,” released in May, praises anti-Israel protests taking place at college and university campuses. In the song he also accuses Israel of genocide and occupation and implies that the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks were an act of “resistance.”
In September, he released the follow-up track “Hind’s Hall 2.” He raps in the song: “Long live the resistance if there’s something to resist/Had enough of you motherf—ers murdering little kids/PC for a minute I was trying to be a bridge/But there’ll never be freedom by pleading with Zionists/World screaming, ‘Free Palestine’/We seen the manual we know how you colonized.”
Macklemore said that proceeds from both songs last year were given the United Nations Relief and Words Agency (UNRWA), which faced allegations that several of its employees participated in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.
The post Macklemore’s Music Video for New Anti-Israel Protest Song ‘F—ked Up’ Compares West Bank to Holocaust first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Germany’s Halt to Arms Exports to Israel Is Response to Gaza Expansion Plans, Chancellor Says
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attends a cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Aug. 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen
Germany’s decision to curb arms exports to Israel comes in response to Israel’s plan to expand its operations in the Gaza Strip, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday in an interview with public broadcaster ARD.
“We cannot deliver weapons into a conflict that is now being pursued exclusively by military means,” Merz said. “We want to help diplomatically, and we are doing so.”
The worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel’s plans to expand military control over the enclave have pushed Germany to take this historically fraught step.
The chancellor said in the interview that the expansion of Israel’s operations in Gaza could claim hundreds of thousands of civilian lives and would require the evacuation of the entire city of Gaza.
“Where are these people supposed to go?” Merz said. “We can’t do that, we won’t do that, and I will not do that.”
Nevertheless, the principles of Germany’s Israel policy remain unchanged, the chancellor said.
“Germany has stood firmly by Israel’s side for 80 years. That will not change,” Merz said.
Germany is Israel’s second-biggest weapons supplier after the US and has long been one of its staunchest supporters, principally because of its historical guilt for the Nazi Holocaust – a policy known as the “Staatsraison.”
RSS
Newsom Calls Trump’s $1 Billion UCLA Settlement Offer Extortion, Says California Won’t Bow
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference, accompanied by members of the Texas Democratic legislators, at the governor’s mansion in Sacramento, California, U.S., August 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Saturday that a $1 billion settlement offer by President Donald Trump’s administration for UCLA amounted to political extortion to which the state will not bow.
The University of California says it is reviewing a $1 billion settlement offer by the Trump administration for UCLA after the government froze hundreds of millions of dollars in funding over pro-Palestinian protests.
UCLA, which is part of the University of California system, said this week the government froze $584 million in funding. Trump has threatened to cut federal funds for universities over anti-Israel student protests.
“Donald Trump has weaponized the DOJ (Department of Justice) to kneecap America’s #1 public university system — freezing medical & science funding until @UCLA pays his $1 billion ransom,” the office of Newsom, a Democrat, said in a post.
“California won’t bow to Trump’s disgusting political extortion,” it added.
“This isn’t about protecting Jewish students – it’s a billion-dollar political shakedown from the pay-to-play president.”
The government alleges universities, including UCLA, allowed antisemitism during the protests and in doing so violated Jewish and Israeli students’ civil rights. The White House had no immediate comment beyond the offer.
Experts have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the Republican president’s threats. The University of California says paying such a large settlement would “completely devastate” the institution.
Large demonstrations took place at UCLA last year. Last week, UCLA agreed to pay over $6 million to settle a lawsuit by some students and a professor who alleged antisemitism. It was also sued this year over a 2024 violent mob attack on pro-Palestinian protesters.
RSS
Trump Nominates State Dept Spokeswoman Bruce as US Deputy Representative to UN
FILE PHOTO: U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce speaks during her first press briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was nominating State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce as the next US deputy representative to the United Nations.
Bruce has been the State Department spokesperson since Trump took office in January.
In a post on social media in which Trump announced her nomination, the president said she did a “fantastic job” as State Department spokesperson. Bruce will need to be confirmed for the role by the US Senate, where Trump’s Republican Party holds a majority.
During press briefings, she has defended the Trump administration’s foreign policy decisions ranging from an immigration crackdown and visa revocations to US responses to Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza, including a widely condemned armed private aid operation in the Palestinian territory.
Bruce was previously a political contributor and commentator on Fox News for over 20 years.
She has also authored books like “Fear Itself: Exposing the Left’s Mind-Killing Agenda” that criticized liberals and left-leaning viewpoints.
In a post after Trump’s announcement, Bruce thanked him and suggested that the role was a “few weeks” away. Neither Trump nor Bruce mentioned an exact timeline in their online posts.
“Now I’m blessed that in the next few weeks my commitment to advancing America First leadership and values continues on the global stage in this new post,” Bruce wrote on X.
Trump has picked former White House national security adviser Mike Waltz to be his U.N. envoy. Waltz’s Senate confirmation for that role, wherein he will be Bruce’s boss, is still due.
Waltz was Trump’s national security adviser until he was ousted on May 1 after he was caught up in a March scandal involving a Signal chat among top Trump national security aides on military strikes in Yemen. Trump then nominated Waltz as his U.N. ambassador.