Crooner Ed Sheeran called Israel’s actions in Gaza “unjustifiable” as he wept and broke his silence during his first concert since booting rapper Macklemore from his tour for tirades against the Jewish state.
“I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician, but this put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet,” Sheeran told the Philly crowd of concertgoers Saturday night.
During his speech, which came at the start of the Saturday night show at Lincoln Financial Field, he also talked about the Gaza War, criticizing Israel and Hamas.
“I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind, because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division, about humanity, not politics,” Sheeran said, apparently reading from a teleprompter.
“But this is a humanitarian issue. I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore. What happened in Israel, and at the music festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain,” he said as he broke down in tears.
“What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
“My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilian loss and loss of children’s lives. And the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfolding the West Bank cannot be overlooked,” the singer-songwriter said.
Sheeran confirmed he will be continuing his tour despite all of his opening acts dropping out since Macklemore received the boot.
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“Honoring my commitment to my fans is also completely central to who I am. And that is why I’m here tonight, on my own,” he said, receiving a roaring applause.
“I am deeply worried about the idea that venues should pre-approved content of performance,” the singer said, adding “this happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.”
He received only applause from the crowd, which appeared to not fill the football stadium. He then broke into his song “Castle on the Hill.”
