The Palestine thread

Started by give her dixie, October 17, 2012, 01:29:42 PM

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seafoid

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/09/20/ed-sheeran-concert-cries-sorry-macklemore-palestine-gaza/

Ed Sheeran broke down in tears and said "what is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable" at his concert on Saturday amid a major row about Palestine.

Sheeran opened his show in Philadelphia by addressing significant criticism over the axing of Macklemore, who was dropped from the tour after leading a "Free Palestine" chant on stage last week.

This is not usually how I would open the show, but before I play some songs tonight, I hope it's okay if I say a few words," he said.

"I'm used to my music being criticised ... This week the criticism was about something much more important ... I am making mistakes and I am so so sorry."

Sheeran continued: "I don't want to disappoint fans, and I've never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important, compassionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet.

"But this is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it any more."

He added: "What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation, loss of civilians' lives. Children's lives.
At this systemic injustice, (what) we're seeing unfolding in the West Bank cannot be overlooked."

Sheeran told fans that the past week had been "like this", making a roller-coaster motion with his hand.

"I've had a week of learning," he said, before claiming that the world was heading to a "very, very, very dark place" without a space for dialogue on difficult issues.

Sheeran appeared to blame wealthy music venue owners, including American businessman Robert Kraft, for making the decision to cut Macklemore.

"I am deeply worried about the idea that venues pre-approved content forms," he said in a scripted speech, adding "it should never happen in the free world".


Sheeran had said it was not his decision to axe Macklemore from the tour Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty
Tearing up as he addressed the full crowd at Lincoln Financial Field, Sheeran said he was "already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims".

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He joked that he hoped fans "enjoyed my support acts", after all of them pulled out in solidarity with Macklemore over his pro-Palestine statements.

AustinPowers

I noticed he got " emotional" after he said  it  great to see the fans turn out ,  but not after  speaking about murdered  Palestinians.

Crying for his career , but not  for a genocide.

seafoid

Quote from: AustinPowers on September 20, 2026, 01:08:29 PMI noticed he got " emotional" after he said  it  great to see the fans turn out ,  but not after  speaking about murdered  Palestinians.

Crying for his career , but not  for a genocide.
Public opinion is lethal.
Sheeran had to comply.

The Israeli line is that there was no genocide and they don't shoot children.
Imagine what it will be like for Israel in 5 or 10 years.

DaleCooper

The silver lining is this shows just how much zionist power is being challenged.

Kraft had setup a "command centre" in Gilette stadium to "monitor antisemitism".

They have subverted the first amendment and have been spying for a LONG time in the US via the Anti Defamation League of Bnai Brith.

Kraft organised an "anti hate" game with Abramovich and other endeavours.

https://www.jewishexponent.com/take-a-look-at-the-antisemitism-command-center-inside-gillette-stadium/

seafoid

Quote from: DaleCooper on September 20, 2026, 04:23:42 PMThe silver lining is this shows just how much zionist power is being challenged.

Kraft had setup a "command centre" in Gilette stadium to "monitor antisemitism".

They have subverted the first amendment and have been spying for a LONG time in the US via the Anti Defamation League of Bnai Brith.

Kraft organised an "anti hate" game with Abramovich and other endeavours.

https://www.jewishexponent.com/take-a-look-at-the-antisemitism-command-center-inside-gillette-stadium/
They are trying to control social media. But at the end of the day they are only 10 million headcases. They cannot control the global dialogue.


The foreign ministry will be allocated NIS 2.35 billion ($729 million) to spend on public diplomacy – known as hasbara in Hebrew – next year, up from NIS 545 million ($150 million) in 2025, according to Israeli media

Hasbara Woman in sexual position w Islamophobia  Porn
This is the slop the Pro-Israel crowd pushes on young conservative men (the target audience of Israel's 8th Front War campaign).

https://x.com/_iamblakeley/status/2082354819939856661/mediaViewer

https://x.com/OunkaOnX/status/2022676756352700916
We're losing the digital war...The masters of the universe are Jews... We have to win the digital battle."

https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/2079185806413938696
WILD comments from Israeli President Herzog: "There's a huge amount of brainwashing against Jews and against Israel. There is also an inherent lack of education in America and elsewhere." What a CRAZY thing to say about the country that is practically your only ally left... biting the hand that feeds! Writers: Jamie, Michael https://x.com/clashreport/status/2079156791959605389/video/1
https://x.com/Adem97525863/status/2079248409093956061

For decades Israel controlled the narrative with propaganda! Problem is truth came out! Instead of changing their behavior, they decide to suppress free speech!

https://x.com/abierkhatib/status/2079511800240812290
I've noticed Zionist posts are collecting dust these days, few likes, very lil engagement, complete ghost town, I think X finally went full exterminator and wiped out their bot army.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/security-aviation/2026-07-20/ty-article/.premium/despite-pledging-nearly-100m-israels-standing-abroad-continued-to-decline/0000019f-7a42-de20-addf-7a4a69760000

The Millions Fueling Israel's Frantic Battle to Win Back U.S. Public Opinion
As Israel's global standing plummets amid the wars in Gaza and Iran, government documents and U.S. filings reveal that Jerusalem has poured unprecedented sums into public diplomacy campaigns and influence operations abroad since October 7
Since the October 7 massacre, Israel has committed roughly $100 million to campaigns abroad aimed at improving its image and shaping public opinion about the wars in Gaza and Iran.
Government procurement documents and filings submitted under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) reveal the scale of that effort, as previously reported by Haaretz. Yet despite the investment, public opinion polling shows that Israel's standing has continued to deteriorate.
The single largest commitment was a digital campaign run by the Government Advertising Agency, worth 174 million shekels (about $52 million). The campaign launched at the start of the 12-day war with Iran in June 2025 and ran through December. Its budget was allocated across Google's advertising platforms (90 million shekels), YouTube (60 million shekels), X (10 million shekels), and the combined advertising platforms Outbrain and Teads (14 million shekels).
In an interview on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Israel was "losing the battle"
for American public opinion.

Vance's comments came weeks after reports that Israel had expanded a multimillion-dollar public diplomacy campaign targeting Christian conservatives and MAGA audiences.
In the interview, Vance said that, while he did not "mind an effort to try and influence – Israel does it, other governments do," he was bothered by the fact that "American leadership allows that influence to affect their judgment" and added: "When I see there's a literal foreign influence campaign being funded [...] my response is 'go to hell,'" he said.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/security-aviation/2026-06-18/ty-article/.premium/bleeding-support-in-u-s-over-failed-iran-war-israel-triples-its-influence-efforts-there/0000019e-db73-d2be-abbf-fbffca7b0000
Israel is deepening its influence efforts in the United States in a bid to halt the collapse of its standing among the conservative right.
Haaretz has learned that the Israeli government is paying over $40 million for an influence campaign aimed at Christian Republicans – three times the budget originally allocated to it.

The central contract, worth $6 million, was signed with a public relations firm owned by Brad Parscale, who ran U.S. President Donald Trump's digital election campaigns in 2016 and 2020. In February, Haaretz exposed some of the products that the firm delivered, chief among them a network of propaganda sites
featuring pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian content, designed to appear neutral and factual. The sites' central aim was to influence the answers provided by search engines and AI-based chatbots.

Since then, Israel's standing on the American right has deteriorated even further. Polls conducted in March, at the height of the war with Iran, show this trend is especially strong among young Republicans. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center
, about 41 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of young Republicans (under 50) hold a negative view of Israel. Overall, about 60 percent of Americans

During the war in Gaza, the campaign's sites dealt mainly with establishing an anti-Palestinian narrative; now the emphasis appears to have shifted to attempting to justify the war in Iran. In all likelihood, this is a response to the mounting accusations in the U.S. – including on the American right – that Netanyahu and Israel dragged Trump into an unjustified war.

https://x.com/PetraSchur/status/2078886793764561361
Israel's $50 Million Experiment to Change U.S. Public Opinion. The Israeli government is trying to shore up its U.S. reputation with help from influencers, Trump insiders and millions of AI-driven texts.

https://x.com/tparsi/status/2080822852954034543
Israel is shifting away from its traditional strategy of relying on American-led groups like AIPAC to advance its interests in the U.S., and is instead increasingly hiring foreign agents to ramp up its influence efforts, per a new paper from foreign policy think tank the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. — Israel has spent over $1 billion on public diplomacy efforts since 2023 — including more than $100 million on efforts to influence the U.S. disclosed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, per the new report from @nick_clevelands
, a research associate in the Quincy Institute's Democratizing Foreign Policy program. The country is now on track to be the biggest FARA spender this year.