Rapper Macklemore dropped a new track that announced he was refusing to vote for President Joe Biden in the upcoming election. “The blood is on your hands, Biden,” he crooned.
The May 6 release of the single “Hind’s Hall” across social media platforms underscored Macklemore’s anti-Israel sentiment by referring to the American ally as a “state that’s gotta rely on an apartheid system.”
He also firmly backed the pro-Palestinian protesters who are occupying college campuses across the nation with the lyrics: “If students in tents posted on the lawn/Occupyin’ the quad is really against the law/And a reason to call in the police and their squad.”
The song insists that “the problem” isn’t the student protesters, but “what they’re protesting,” which “goes against what our country is funding,” which is Israel’s continued war against Hamas.
HIND’S HALL. Once it’s up on streaming all proceeds to UNRWA. pic.twitter.com/QqZEKmzwZI
— Macklemore (@macklemore) May 6, 2024
At the end of April, Biden signed a $95 billion package that allocates $26 billion in foreign aid to Israel to help replenish the country’s air defense. The package also funds $1 billion in humanitarian assistance for the people of Gaza.
However, the administration recently halted a shipment of weapons to Israel in an effort to prevent an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
“We have paused one shipment of weapons last week. It consists of 1,800 2,000-lb bombs and 1,700 500-lb bombs,” and unnamed Biden official told Reuters.
“We are especially focused on the end-use of the 2,000-lb bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza. We have not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment.”
Despite the White House’s decision to put a hold on delivering weapons to Israel, “blood” is on Biden’s hands according to Macklemore.
He accuses the president of destroying every college and mosque in Gaza, and pushing Palestinians into Rafah, where Israel is planning to drop bombs.
“The blood is on your hands, Biden, we can see it all,” Macklemore sang. “And f**k no, I’m not votin’ for you in the fall.”
On the opposite side of the musical spectrum, soft rock singer-songwriter John Ondrasik who is known by his stage name, Five for Fighting, told The Daily Wire how Hamas’ October 7 terror attack motivated him to write his latest single, “OK (We Are Not Okay).”
Ondrasik said that he was “horrified” by the events of the assault on Israel. “Frankly in many ways it brought back memories of 9/11,” he remarked. “But I think what really inspired me to write the song was the aftermath of Oct. 7.”
He cited the “raging anti-semitism on college campuses” and the media “very quickly” beginning to spout Hamas propaganda as “the moral collapse” of the United States.
“And to members of Congress, like Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who could not condemn the beheading of babies — that really scared me,” he added.
Ondrasik said his new song is “really about the fight for civilization against those who want to tear it down,” which he equates to “good vs evil.”
The singer then compared the response of artists after September 11 attack to what transpired after the October 7 attack.
He noted than when he played The Concert for New York City after 9/11 “every icon in the music business” was at the event, “condemning Osama bin Laden. But after October 7, it is crickets.”
He fired at fellow musicians for being complacent about speaking out, while lauding themselves as humanitarians.
I have one questions for @UCLAchancellor Gene Block, the Board, and the majority of administrators/faculty at my alma mater @UCLA. I'm at your disposal to meet and discuss your answer. A message to the Jewish and non-Jewish students under siege across our nation as well.… pic.twitter.com/z3vQGO9p1q
— John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) May 4, 2024
“I’m ashamed of my industry. The world has gone mad,” Ondrasik added. “Many of those artists are Jewish and I think one reason my song resonated so much was because Israel feels abandoned by the arts. Because it has been.”
He believes that artists are “scared” for the safety of their families and careers if the cross anti-Israel protesters.
“It’s disgusting,” the “100 Years” singer concluded. “It’s disgraceful and I think many musicians of conscience will look back on this moment and be ashamed that they did not join the right side of history.”