Posted on 09/18/2026 12:37:25 AM PDT by Words Matter
The problem was not Robert Kraft’s decision. The problem is how we explain it.
We removed the messenger from the stage without confronting the lie he was spreading. We focused on Macklemore–his rhetoric, his history, the hurt his words cause–when the far greater threat is the message itself. And in doing so, we inadvertently helped create precisely the narrative Macklemore and his defenders wanted.
Now the story practically writes itself: Macklemore dared to “speak truth to power.” He said what others supposedly do not want Americans to hear, and for his courage, a Jewish billionaire and other venue owners took away his microphone. Macklemore becomes the martyr. His cancellation becomes evidence of his righteousness. And Jews assume precisely the role his rhetoric already assigns us: morally compromised and willing to use our influence to suppress anyone brave enough to expose an uncomfortable truth.
We should stop defending ourselves against the accusation and start challenging the accusation itself.
Macklemore did not belong on that stage because he was using it to spread hateful lies about the Jewish state. He was telling an audience that the world’s only Jewish state is committing “genocide” and practicing “apartheid,” presenting those accusations not as arguments to defend, but as settled truths.
That is not the same as supporting Palestinians or criticizing Israel. Macklemore remains free to say what he believes. But freedom of speech does not entitle anyone to someone else’s microphone, particularly an entertainment stage before thousands who bought tickets for a concert rather than to hear a political polemic.
There is also a bitter irony in the outrage over Macklemore being “canceled.” Where was this defense of artistic freedom when American Jewish musician Matisyahu had concerts canceled after activists targeted venues over his support for Israel, creating security and staffing concerns? Macklemore did not lose his place because of his identity. He lost that stage because of what he chose to do with it.
The accusations coming from more than Macklemore.
And this is much bigger than Macklemore. He did not invent these accusations. He is simply their latest celebrity messenger.
“Genocide.” “Apartheid.” “Ethnic cleansing.” “War criminal.” We hear these charges on college campuses, across social media, in newsrooms, entertainment, politics, and our institutions. Repeated often enough, they enter our discourse not as extraordinary accusations requiring proof, but as established facts requiring allegiance.
That is where the Jewish community has missed something fundamental. We have become very good at identifying antisemitism and condemning those who traffic in it. We have been far less willing to confront the lies that make the antisemitism possible.
Dara Horn has articulated something essential about antisemitism: it does not operate simply as hatred or intolerance toward Jews. It operates through a recurring lie–that Jews are responsible for destroying whatever a society holds most dear.
That distinction changes the prescription. If we treat antisemitism primarily as intolerance, we answer it with tolerance: more education, dialogue, and opportunities to understand Jews. Those things have value. But you cannot cure a lie by teaching people to become more tolerant of the people being lied about. You have to challenge the lie.
And we must confront the genocide lie more boldly. Israel is not committing genocide. The accusation is false and outrageous.
Genocide is not a synonym for a terrible war, a high civilian death toll, or even violations of the laws of war. It is a specific crime requiring intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such. Intent is not incidental to the definition. It is essential.
Israel’s conduct matters too. John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute, has argued after studying the Gaza campaign that Israel has implemented more measures to prevent civilian harm than any military he has studied. That does not mean every Israeli decision was correct or every strike justified. But warnings, evacuations, and extensive civilian-harm precautions are evidence that must be confronted before accusing a country of intending to destroy a people.
The genocide accusation is a modern blood libel.
The original blood libel accused Jews of deliberately murdering Christian children. Its power came from transforming hatred into righteousness. Those who believed it did not imagine themselves persecuting innocent Jews. They imagined themselves protecting innocent children from evil.
The moral vocabulary changes. The mechanism remains hauntingly familiar. Today, someone can accuse the Jewish state of deliberately destroying a people and still sincerely insist–as Macklemore has–that he has nothing against Jews. He may genuinely believe he is standing against evil. That is precisely what makes the libel so dangerous.
Concern for Palestinian human rights, advocacy for Palestinians and criticism of Israel are not antisemitic. Palestinian suffering is real. Innocent civilians have died, and where individuals commit crimes, they should be held accountable.
But none of that establishes genocide. And compassion does not demand self-flagellation or self-erasure.
Jews should not have to accept the lie that Israel is committing genocide to prove that we care about Palestinian lives. We should not have to sever our connection to Israel to establish our moral credibility or repeat a blood libel against the Jewish state to demonstrate our decency.
Yet that is increasingly the moral test imposed upon us.
Accept that the world’s only Jewish state is committing one of humanity’s gravest crimes, and you can remain among the righteous. Challenge that premise, defend Israel against the charge, or refuse to distance yourself from the Jewish state, and suddenly your disagreement becomes complicity–and your connection to Israel becomes evidence against you.
That is not incidental to the antisemitism. It is how the antisemitism works.
Some argue that Netanyahu’s government or particular Israeli policies have made defending Israel more difficult. But difficulty does not turn an accusation into a fact. We do not have to support Netanyahu or defend every Israeli action. And distancing ourselves from Israel will not make American Jews safer; it only reinforces the dangerous fiction that Jewish safety depends on Jewish behavior.
We can defend Palestinian humanity without surrendering our own. We should not disavow Israel to demonstrate our decency or accept collective guilt for a crime Israel did not commit.
The answer to a blood libel is not to prove that Jews are good people. It is to expose the blood libel as a lie.
Robert Kraft is a hero for standing up. Now it is our job to stand with him–and fight the lies.
The Gaza GenoLIE
United with Israel. Sep 15, 2026 The Gaza “genocide” claim is a lie. There is no genocide. -Bill Maher.
https://www.facebook.com/UnitedWithIsrael/videos/the-gaza-genocide-claim-is-a-lie-there-is-no-genocide-bill-maher/1060178416796667/
Maher: 9/11 Was And Still Is A Clash Of Civilizations Between Radical Islamism And Western Liberalism.' By Ian Schwartz Real Clear Politics. September 12, 2026.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/09/12/maher_911_was_and_still_is_a_clash_of_civilizations_between_radical_islamism_and_western_liberalism.html
Blue Lives Matter. Sep 15, 2026 · 🚨The whole "genocide in Gaza" thing was a LIE - now the TRUTH is out in the numbers that the left is trying to HIDE FROM YOU. Gaza’s Muslims grew from about 240,000 in 1950 to more than 2 million while its Christians collapsed under Hamas from thousands to roughly 600. ⠀ After the 1948 refugee inflow the Strip held roughly 240,000 people. By 2023 UN-style tallies put the population near 2.1 to 2.3 million. Fertility did most of the climb inside 365 square kilometers. ⠀ The 1945 Village Statistics listed about 1,010 Christians in Gaza City. Before Hamas seized the Strip in 2007, church and press counts sat around 3,000 to 5,000. On the eve of Oct. 7, Father Gabriel Romanelli counted 1,017. ⠀ Early 2026 estimates put the remnant near 600, split among Holy Family, St. Porphyrius, and Gaza Baptist. About 300 got out through Rafah while it was open. Dozens of Christians were k*lled or d*ed of untreated illness after the war began. ⠀ Bethlehem was 86 percent Christian in 1950 and about 10 percent in the last PA census. Israel’s Christian population rose from about 34,000 in 1948 to more than 180,000. ⠀ The Muslim population exploded. The Christian one was driven out after Hamas took the guns.
https://www.facebook.com/bluematters/posts/the-whole-genocide-in-gaza-thing-was-a-lie-now-the-truth-is-out-in-the-numbers-t/1540932948079284
Let’s see whether lying scum will succeed in destroying live performance of popular music. At some point, young people may realize their enjoyment of music does not have to be held hostage by the world’s geopolitical lunatics.
Maybe mega-concerts SHOULD be destroyed to bring some sanity back to the simple pleasure of hearing a music artist perform live. Small venues...Affordable tickets...Fun to be present...Two hours AWAY from the world’s EVIL (rather than letting evil INVADE and DESTROY everyone’s enjoyment of music).
Young people will eventually become disgusted with hanging a noose of insane political hatred around the simple enjoyment of live music.
Embedded inside this hatred is a clear picture of why NO ARAB NATION WILL ALLOW THE TRESPASSING OF/BY PALESTINIAN TRASH INTO ITS TERRITORY.
It is Arabs, not Jews, making a practical solution impossible.
The Freeper AntiSemite contingent are going to be all over this thread like flies on a cowflop.
Ya know what? Kraft is right about Macklemore, and cancelling the concerts, but at this point, I’m getting really sick of those particular Jews in power in the USA (and they are not representive of “Da Jooz”) doing nothing other than hating, corroding, subverting and seeking the destruction of Christianity, while insisting we support them with 100% of our being.. Screw Robert Kraft. F*ck him. He’s 100% for “freedom of speech” as long as it’s an unending stream of hatred for America, hatred for Catholicism, hatred for the rest of Christianity, but hurts his feelings and he’s suddenly horrified. F*ck him.
It's his stadium and he can pressure whatever groups appearing at his venue to drop acts if he wants. But I don't know what to tell anybody that doesn't believe this has not massively backfired on Kraft. I said on another thread he Streisanded an over-the-hill one-hit-wonder to the stars. He was aiming for that idiot Macklemore, but he actually took out Sheeran. Public relations experts will be studying this for years to come under the rubric of "What Not To Do."
It's his stadium and he can pressure whatever groups appearing at his venue to drop acts if he wants. But I don't know what to tell anybody that doesn't believe this has not massively backfired on Kraft. I said on another thread he Streisanded an over-the-hill one-hit-wonder to the stars. He was aiming for that idiot Macklemore, but he actually took out Sheeran. Public relations experts will be studying this for years to come under the rubric of "What Not To Do."
It's his stadium and he can pressure whatever groups appearing at his venue to drop acts if he wants. But I don't know what to tell anybody that doesn't believe this has not massively backfired on Kraft. I said on another thread he Streisanded an over-the-hill one-hit-wonder to the stars. He was aiming for that idiot Macklemore, but he actually took out Sheeran. Public relations experts will be studying this for years to come under the rubric of "What Not To Do."
It's his stadium and he can pressure whatever groups appearing at his venue to drop acts if he wants. But I don't know what to tell anybody that doesn't believe this has not massively backfired on Kraft. I said on another thread he Streisanded an over-the-hill one-hit-wonder to the stars. He was aiming for that idiot Macklemore, but he actually took out Sheeran. Public relations experts will be studying this for years to come under the rubric of "What Not To Do."
Ironic that the zionists are confused why so many people disapprove of their Final Solution to the Arab question. More ironic that they consider relocation and extermination are the ‘practical solution’ to the people who live where they want to emigrate. After all, they need the lebensraum, amirite?
I know Sheeran is not political but he is the one who picked these people to go on tour with him. He should have known what Mackelmore would do and not have him there.
>Embedded inside this hatred is a clear picture of why NO ARAB NATION WILL ALLOW THE TRESPASSING OF/BY PALESTINIAN TRASH INTO ITS TERRITORY.
The wall *EGYPT* built on their border with the Gaza Palestinians says a lot, most of which morons like Macklemore fail to understand.
I didn’t even know anything about this story and had to look up the details just now. It looks like nobody gave a sh!t about the Macklemore clown until Kraft banished him from the stadium he owns. How did that result in Sheeran’s whole tour falling into disarray?
So Kraft unintentionally engineered a happy ending for Macklemore, who is like 50 years old and had one crappy hit 10 years ago, and pretty much blew up Sheeran's career
His backing band and all the other opening acts quit on him over this. Macklemore is a known anti-Semite.
Who were the other NFL owners? I thought Gillette Stadium was one of only three privately owned NFL venues.
“”Ironic that the zionists are confused why so many people disapprove of their Final Solution to the Arab question. More ironic that they consider relocation and extermination are the ‘practical solution’ to the people who live where they want to emigrate. After all, they need the lebensraum, amirite?””
***
No, actually... you’re not right. And to be honest... you sound like a damned Nazi with your false “assumptions” on what the Israeli people want and with your German terms alluding to Israel wanting more than they are entitled to... ie their own damned land. The Israelis want peace with the Palestinians, but the Palestinians just want the Jews dead... all of them. There can be no peace with cretins like that. Ever.
Since I apparently have to remind you...in 2005 Israel pulled out of Gaza, dismantled Jewish settlements and left Gaza to the anti-peace Palestinians... in the hopes and interest of finally getting peace. All they ended up getting for their effort was more hatred and more attacks. That was two decades ago and enough is enough. The October 7 attack was the proverbial last frigging straw.
And by the way... another “assumption” that you just made... is that the Israelis that you call Zionists are confused. They’re not confused at all about the “”why”” behind any that “disapprove” of what they do or what they want. They’ve been dealing with the “why” for generations. It’s called anti-Semitism and hatred for ‘da Joos’... and it is an evil and as old as evil itself.
I stated that you sound like a damned Nazi, but what I believe you actually are is much worse in my political dictionary. You sound like a card-carrying leftist Democrat. Because you are repeating and parroting their exact same rhetoric against Israel ... right here on a Conservative Christian forum... which leans pro-Israel. And yet... here you are, spewing right along with rest of the Jew-hating left. OWN IT.
You make a good point. Kraft and the other owners extended the contract and gave a bonus to some of the worst of the leftist a-holes in the country who are running the NFL. These scumbags spit in the fans faces and they get big fat contract and a bonus for doing it.
Four NFL owners coordinated pressure on Ed Sheeran’s tour to remove Macklemore after he accused Israel of genocide in Gaza and declared “Free Palestine” at MetLife Stadium.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft told Sheeran during a 40-minute call that Macklemore would not be allowed at Gillette Stadium. Panthers owner David Tepper and Falcons owner Arthur Blank made the same decision, and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie soon joined them as the owners traded calls and threatened to cancel Sheeran’s stadium dates.
https://x.com/WSJ/status/2100383340821950635?s=20
All the Gazans had to do was to release all the hostages or pile all their guns onto the streets for IDF collection.
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