To feel sorry for Ed Sheeran.....

If you know the history of the OP's threads then you would know she most definitely proudly labels herself as 'pro-Israel'.

You will know that there is ample scope for protest in our society. Pro Palestinian protests are ubiquitous so why are you asking me what can be done?
The question is - are we allowed to critique and object ?

Where has the OP actually labelled herself “pro-Israel”? I can't see that she has. It seems to me that you've applied that label to her based on the views she's expressed, which is rather illustrating the point I was making.

Perhaps some people sing the certain words regarding hearing and the iOf as they have had enough of seeing the sheer brutality of their actions over and over. Seeing what happens to children on a regular basis. What pregnant women have been subjected to. The list goes on and on...

Why have you plucked the more controversial protests? I am talking about absolutely every protest, there are constant attempts to shut it down

So what is acceptable? what can people do to express their upset and disgust at Palestinians being murdered, starved, cleansed? What? everything is wrong,

It might feel relentless but guess what Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank are relentless and haven't stopped so why should the protestors?

You have told me what can't be done so what can? that was my original question

Being in the music business myself , I’m not a fan however I do know it’s a difficult situation as the promoter ( who essentially puts up all the money to put the shows on) has all the clout - you can also be sued for all the costs so far if you don’t go ahead-especially in the states and your tour insurance will not cover you for stuff like’didnt like promoters political stance’ - etc

I'm talking about people who label themselves as 'pro-Israel' like the OP. Who take offence in anything that is perceived as 'pro-Palestine'.

Whether or not Macklemore is very pro Palestinian or not, as a friend and being on a friends tour you respect his views and wishes on not bringing politics into his tours and concerts, but……. He still did that. It’s disrespectful to his friend and it shows to me what a prick he is. Wanting to look like a hero but really he’s just an asshole.

I also find the constant use of “pro-Israel” quite unhelpful in these discussions. What does it actually mean? That someone believes Israel should continue to exist? That they support the current Israeli government? That they support settlements? Those are completely different positions.

Being “pro-Israel” and “pro-Palestinian” aren't necessarily opposites. Someone can care about the rights, safety and self-determination of both Israelis and Palestinians. It's exactly this constant sorting of everyone into two opposing camps that makes these conversations so difficult.

The other side of the coin to this was a piece I read in the Times this morning. Ed and Mackelmore are friends. Ed likes to keep his politics out of his music, but was certainly aware that Mackelmore is very pro Palestinian, along with his other causes. Surely Ed expected him to say something? Or are we just going to pretend Ed is a very naive muscian?

There is a huge amount of intolerance on all sides. I would be very surprised if you supported pro-Israeli marches, exclusion of palestinians from cultural events, pro-Israeli support acts etc. Just look at the shit ES has got for saying he doesn't want to talk about it during his concerts. If you're arguing for tolerance and freedom of expression all round then that is very laudable.

I think this gets at something I've been trying to articulate. The question isn't necessarily whether any of those things should be prohibited. I wouldn't say that people shouldn't be allowed to march or wave Palestinian flags, for example.
But there seems to be very little willingness to hear Jewish people explain what the cumulative effect of all of this has felt like over the last few years. As soon as someone says a march, a slogan or something at a concert makes them feel uncomfortable or frightened, the response is often to explain why they shouldn't feel that way. You can support someone's right to protest and still listen to the people affected by the way that protest is expressed. Those aren't contradictory positions.

Marches - Yes, provided they do not call for the eradication of Israel or involve harassment of people who disagree or just bystanders who happen to be Jewish.
Children's art exhibitions - no. Agree no.
Artists/ musicians speaking out - Yes. Fine in their own music or concerts.
sanctioning west Bank - I don't have a view on this, but people can think yes or no as they wish.
recognising state of Palestine - No. Agree no as this involves formally recognising a state with an oppressive and violent government.
Prevention from competing in sporting events and eurovision - No. Agree with no - why should they be prevented.
Waving a Palestinian flag - Yes, but depends on the circumstances.
protesting outside an event selling real estate on illegal settlements - Yes ok, provided it's a peaceful protest.

That's very well said. Many pro-Israelis don't believe any of the above is an acceptable form of protest. Only if you talk about it very quietly in a certain way is it perhaps acceptable (grudgingly)

The point is that the weekly marches, celebrity comments , flag displays are ubiquitous and relentless and have created an environment where Jewish people across the globe feel at best “uncomfortable” and at worst seriously threatened.
Look at the rise in antisemitic attacks…
Macklemore’s cosplaying an “evil Jew” has contributed to that.
Kneecap’s posturing with books written by Hamas terrorists have contributed to the antisemitism.
Matthew Collings ugly “artwork” has contributed to that.
I don’t think “creative freedom “ would be allowed as an excuse for the demonisation of any other group of people.

I'm bringing Pink into it again, because she said it so well and I don't think many people in the UK have read her statement. This is exactly what Pink meant when she said “You don't get to decide that for us.” You can disagree with why some Jewish people find those words frightening, but telling them their reaction is ridiculous because Palestinians have suffered terribly is still telling them how they're entitled to feel. Palestinian suffering and Jewish fear aren't mutually exclusive. Acknowledging one doesn't require dismissing the other.

Don’t tell me what me and my community should be terrified of. Any other ethnic minorities whose fears you want to police?

This is an absolute shit show and what’s more disgusting about this is the fact that Macklemore was meant to of been a friend of Ed’s, meaning he probably knew ed doesn’t use his platforms and social media for politics and views, his tours and concerts are for just his music for his fans only, but yet the selfish bell end went ahead and chanted his thoughts about it all anyways, when there is a place to do so like his own tours, platforms and social media, because of his selfishness it has now caused issues for ed and has affected his image. Concerts are for music and enjoying a night out, politics should be spoken about elsewhere as there is a time and place for that, Macklemore ‘is a hero’ bullshit makes me angry because the bloke is a prize prick for doing that at his ‘friends’ concert knowing the damage it will do. He knew full well what he was doing and with friends like that you don’t need enemies!!!

The problem with 'Free Palestine' is that it means a huge range of things, from entirely laudable to utterly innocuous to genuinely genocidal things.

For some people saying it, 'Palestine' = Gaza and the West Bank, and 'free' = end military bombardment, remove the curse of Hamas and try to build proper, functioning state with decent living and civil and human rights.

For others saying it, 'Palestine' = a much wider area, and 'free' = free it of Jews. Some sub-set of those people mean to free it by killing the Jews. Not many Western artists mean it in that sense, for sure, but plenty of people actually in the region do.

I can't imagine myself personally feeling 'terrified' of someone saying that. But if you are saying it's 'ridiculous' that anyone might feel that because of what Palestinians have been subjected to, you need to consider the Jewish experience not just in the last century but in recent memory from people flying that same flag, who actually did and do want to eliminate them.

Like: I'll never be terrified of a Confederate flag. And many people wave it for entirely wholesome reasons. But if someone whose people had just a couple of years ago been massacred by people waving that flag, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt if they said they were terrified.

Seeing pictures of Macklemore cos-playing the Nazi dehumanising of Jewish men and then claiming innocence🤔made me...yes I think uncomfortable is one of the words that fits.
Seeing easily led people in the UK openly saying Jews should be gassed, calling to globalise the intafada, cheering on Houthis, and chanting Khaybar khaybar ya yahud, and death to the IDF makes me... uncomfortable. That's how you dehumanise a group enough to carry out a pogrom like 7/10.
If you're so big on freedom of speech would you be happy with any other form of incitement against a group?
Can you recognise the problem of weaponising an emotional crowd? It's all a bit Adolf.

Very well said. Anything and everything remotely considered showing any type of support is automatically a Very Bad Thing and must be shut down and stopped. Look at the damage falsely labelling everything as being antisemitic has caused... people just do not view things with the same seriousness in some cases as it has been thrown around so much where it was not appropriate to do so.

It is not surprising that the things you have mentioned completely and utterly lacks context.

As for claiming that the words "Free Palestine" is "frankly terrifying" is ridiculous considering what the Palestinian people have been subjected to.

I heard someone talking about all this yesterday and it got me thinking. What is an acceptable form of protest from a pro Israel perspective?
Marches - No
Children's art exhibitions - no
Artists/ musicians speaking out - No
sanctioning west Bank - No
recognising state of Palestine - No
Prevention from competing in sporting events and eurovision - No
Waving a Palestinian flag - No
protesting outside an event selling real estate on illegal settlements - No

The list goes on and on. Netanyahu is also looking into revoking the citizenship from the two Israeli's that made the film Naza.
When does constant opposition to something start to look a lot more like censorship?

It is simply to draw attention to the fact that what he claimed in his statement is complete and utter nonsense. As clearly he was vocal before regarding Ukraine but yet he tried to choose the path of silence regarding this matter. As another poster pointed out, his PR people are truly terrible at their job. It was quite clear from the get go that there would be issues with this. Choosing the path of silence and trying to essentially placate people never works particularly when it comes to this issue. Yes, there are many arguments online regarding Ukraine and there is a lot of nasty things being claimed about Russia. Russia-phobia is indeed an issue. Regardless, Ed has been cowardly and that is very clear.

People get cancelled if their comments don’t conform .
Yes Macklemore is a case in point...