JERUSALEM, Israel – A controversy over Gaza is shaking up singer Ed Sheeran’s concert tour after rapper Macklemore was dropped following comments about Israel and the Palestinians. Meanwhile, Washington is confronting the mounting costs of the war with Iran as Israel warns that the Iranian nuclear threat remains.
One line from Macklemore on stage in New Jersey during the Ed Sheeran tour has triggered a firestorm.
“I said, ‘free Palestine,'” Macklemore explained.
Promoters dropped Macklemore, and now Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga, Danish band Lukas Graham, and Finneas later announced are also walking away in protest.
Finneas wrote, “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” adding, “I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”
Caught in the middle, Ed Sheeran wrote on Instagram that the decision to remove Macklemore came from the tour’s promoters, not from him.
During the concert, Macklemore also addressed the Jewish people directly, stating, “…Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide, it in no way is criticism of you.”
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While the battle over Israel and Gaza is playing out on the concert stage, the actual war with Iran is exacting a steep price on the United States.
The House of Representatives voted 220 to 204 on Tuesday to pass a War Powers Resolution directing the president to remove U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran. Seven Republicans voted in favor of the measure. Trump will likely veto the mostly symbolic vote.
It comes on the heels of the Congressional Budget Office report that the conflict has cost $38 billion and is growing by $2-3 billion per month.
A Pentagon watchdog also says that more than $22 billion in munitions were expended, contributing to strategic inventory shortfalls.
Iranian attacks also damaged hundreds of structures at American bases in the Middle East, with the cost of reconstruction not yet released.
Meanwhile, Israel is warning that Iran’s nuclear ambitions remain a major threat.
Israel Atomic Energy Commission Director Gen. Moshe Edri told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran holds more than nine tons of nuclear material, which is “equivalent to more than 10 nuclear devices.”
Edri warned, “Iran’s radical regime has not changed course…”
Yet, even as the war pulls on American resources, it is bringing together an unusual group of regional powers.
According to Axios, U.S. CENTCOM’s Admiral Brad Cooper recently organized a private meeting in Germany with military commanders from the U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Egypt to discuss regional security.
Reports indicate that Cooper delivered a key message to the commanders: despite the cost of the war and Iranian attacks on American bases, U.S. forces aren’t going anywhere.
The Gulf nations are condemning an attempted attack on the Islamic holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia says the drone attack is a ‘red line.’ Houthi rebels who have been attacking Saudi Arabia denied targeting Mecca.
