Pink says defending Jews has been ‘lonelier’ than she expected
Jewish pop star says families were left frightened by Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian concert set but insists she does not want him silenced
Pink has said speaking up for Jewish people has proved “lonelier” than she expected after facing a backlash over her criticism of Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian performance at an Ed Sheeran concert.
The Jewish American singer said she wanted to explain her position after sharing a social media post criticising Macklemore’s set at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, where he shouted “Free Palestine”, accused Israel of genocide and performed his protest song Hind’s Hall.
In a lengthy Instagram statement posted ahead of Rosh Hashanah, Pink said: ‘And now I’m standing up for my own people, and I thought I knew going in how lonely that would be.
“And it’s lonelier than that. But I’m doing it anyway.”
The row began after Pink reposted a message from the campaign group StopAntisemitism, which accused Macklemore of subjecting Jewish concertgoers to “anti-Israel propaganda”.
Pink has now stressed that the words in the original post were not hers and did not necessarily reflect how she would have expressed her concerns.
“A repost isn’t a statement, and a meme isn’t a spine,” she wrote. “Social media makes all of us cheap and fast, and we all know it. But I’d rather be disagreed with for what I actually said than hated for what anybody else wrote.”
The singer, born Alecia Beth Moore, said her Jewish identity had led people to make assumptions about her political views.
“I was born a Jew. I didn’t pick it, and I’ve never hidden it,” she said. “And this week a whole lot of people decided what I believe without asking me, without checking a single thing I’ve ever said or done, because a repost and the word ‘Jew’ were apparently enough to fill in the rest.”
She added: “Hamas is a terrorist organisation. Palestinians deserve a future that honours their humanity and their aspirations. Protecting innocent life comes first, everywhere, and nobody should ever celebrate the death of a child. Anybody’s child.”
Pink also made clear that her criticism was not aimed at stopping Macklemore from advocating for Palestinians.
“I have never asked for another artist to be silenced, and I’m not asking now. I don’t need anyone fired, and I don’t need a refund,” she said.
“What I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, ‘That scared me, and it scared people I love,’ without being told our fear is just propaganda.”
During his MetLife performance, Macklemore addressed his “Jewish brothers and sisters”, telling the audience: “Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you.”
Pink responded: “You don’t get to decide that for us.”
She also recalled a controversy involving the rapper in 2014, where he performed in a disguise featuring a large fake hooked nose. Macklemore denied intending to portray a Jewish stereotype and subsequently apologised after criticism of the costume.
Pink said she had accepted his apology at the time.
“But he apologised, and I let it go, because that’s what we do. We let it go,” she wrote.
Referring to his latest performance, she added: “Then last weekend he stood in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice, and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them.”
Pink has spoken openly about antisemitism she has experienced. In December last year, while lighting Chanukah candles with Israeli actress and activist Noa Tishby, she recalled being targeted with an antisemitic slur as a child and said her mother had later faced threats because she was Jewish.
In her latest statement, Pink also addressed the use of “Zionist” as an insult against her and assumptions about her position on the Israeli government.
“I don’t think most of them hate Jews,” she wrote. “I think somebody handed them a story where the Jew who won’t apologise for existing must be the villain, and they’ve been putting words in my mouth ever since.”
She ended with a message to people affected by the conflict, including Jews, Muslims, Israelis and Palestinians.
“You don’t have to agree with one thing Israel’s government does and to not want the Jewish family two rows down from you to be scared or targeted at a concert,” she wrote. “That’s the only thing I’m asking anybody for.”