The last line of defence
Ed Sheeran made a speech from the stage in Philadelphia on the 19th of September12 on his beleaguered tour after getting criticized for dropping Macklemore as an opening act.
It was terrible and there's plenty of videos dissecting exactly why online.
But what I want to focus on is that what Ed Sheeran attempted are the last lines of rhetorical defense for the war crimes and atrocities carried out by Israel.
Unlike Pink, who actively demanded repercussions on Macklemore for saying "Free Palestine" and the billionaire, Robert Kraft who took the step of forcing Macklemore off the tour3, Sheeran's defense of that and the horrors happening in Palestine are passive.
Like Pink he claims what is happening to Palestinians is 'complicated'. It's not. But where Pink prioritizes making Jewish Zionists feel safe over everything else, including, frankly, Palestinian lives, Sheeran takes the tack of wanting his concerts to be a 'safe space for everyone'. This is delusional. You cannot make the oppressed feel safe in a space where their oppressors are welcome. You have to choose one or the other, and Sheeran chose wrong.
That's the flaw. Sheeran said twice in Philadelphia that he doesn't want to be 'political', but by giving in to the demands to kick Macklemore off the tour, Sheeran made the political choice to side with the oppressors and the war criminals, by silencing a champion of their victims. Like everyone else refusing to make a stand, he chose to stand with the villains.
The other trick is paying nothing but lip service to the problems he's caused. He acknowledges that there's something deeply wrong with venus pre-approving the content of a performance, but merely admitting he gave in doesn't actually make things any better. Nobody needs his self-awareness, what are needed are his actions.
The same is true for his mention of the ongoing devastation of Gaza and the tyranny in the West Bank. Because mentions are all that they are. And they way he sidesteps taking any real action is something. In the middle of his corporate friendly slop of a speech he says what is happening in Palestine is a 'humanitarian issue'. It's not. It's a political one causing humanitarian issues. Then he says he's going to 'make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times'. Palestinians are not victims of 'these terrible times', They are victims of Israel. The brain-rot of refusing to be 'political' very conveniently blinds him to the fact that Israel is the problem and also to his responsibility. Because from his position as a music superstar, he could have made a massive contribution to turning Israel into a cultural pariah, like so many other artists like Macklemore, are doing. It's too late for him to do that now.
What's devastating is that while Sheeran ran cover for Israel in the most public, cowardly, and clumsy way possible. Our culture has been doing this with far more success for decades. The toothless both sides, cry for the victim while covering for the offender nonsense, is repeated by every last company or figure of any influence who has justified their silence over eight decades and especially the last three years. A silence that made the genocide possible and allows it to continue.
Sheeran became a superstar in a world which rewarded him for being a distraction from the horrors we need to address. We've proved that world is dying, but we need to put it in the grave for good by taking real action. While continuing to clown Sheeran and those like him, please consider making a donation to a family I'm raising funds for in the Strip. Information in my profile. All opinions my own. In the end only God knows best.