Ed Sheeran concert set to go ahead after outcry over Gaza

Ed Sheeran is expected to return to the stage for the first time since the expulsion of Macklemore from his United States tour due to the rapper’s comments on stage in support of Palestine.

The decision provoked a backlash and prompted the rest of Sheeran’s opening acts to pull out.

Sheeran is scheduled to perform on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. He may sing alone since the other opening acts dropped out in support of Macklemore and Gaza.

Finneas, the brother and collaborator of popular artist Billie Eilish, was originally scheduled to perform with Sheeran in some cities, but dropped out earlier this week. Danish band Lukas Graham and Irish singer Aaron Rowe were also supposed to open at various points on Sheeran’s global tour, but they also announced they would not perform.

Palestinian advocacy groups have called for a boycott of the tour, saying Sheeran is complicit in an effort to stifle criticism of Israel over its genocidal war in Gaza.

“We now extend our call for boycotting Ed Sheeran’s entire world tour, including the upcoming Latin American dates and the as-yet-unannounced European leg,” said the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) in a statement.

A pro-Palestinian rally is scheduled near the concert venue before the show on Saturday.

Artists in Gaza painted a mural of Macklemore in a Palestinian flag in the rubble of Gaza City to show their support. Despite a ceasefire agreement, Israel continues to kill Palestinians in frequent strikes across Gaza, where many remain displaced and live without access to basic services.

“Thank you for using your voice for Palestine,” it reads.

“We wanted to send a message to thank rapper Macklemore in this simple way,” Anne Redwan, who designed and painted the mural with fellow artist Qusai al-Helo, told the Reuters news agency.

“As an artist living under siege here in Gaza, we are waiting for support from anyone who can see (the) persecution we live under,” added the 26-year-old. “We can paint murals bigger than this to express our feelings.”

Macklemore was dropped from Sheeran’s tour after saying “free Palestine” during a show in New Jersey on September 5 . The influential pro-Israel billionaire Robert Kraft, whose company owns a stadium where Sheeran was scheduled to play, pushed for the rapper to be dropped in response.

But the effort backfired, underscoring the shifting dynamics around support for Palestine in the US, where support for Israel was once largely unquestioned and reliably bipartisan.

That has changed since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza, setting off a remarkable swing in public opinion that has seen support for Israel shrink to its lowest levels on record. Support has dropped across the political spectrum, but especially among political progressives and voters in the Democratic Party.

Many politicians and influential figures have struggled to adjust to the shifting landscape around the issue. Macklemore’s expulsion prompted an outpouring of support from members of the public, Palestinian rights groups, and fellow artists.

Sheeran released a statement saying that he is “not complicit” and denying that he was responsible for the decision.