Not So Holy Mackerel

The rapper who goes by the name Macklemore (or less) is a perfect representative of the loser artistic class of our age.

Benjamin Hammond Haggerty goes by the stage name of Macklemore. It would appear that a typical mackerel has more brains and talent than this rapper does. He has made his recent increase in fame by screaming about “Free Palestine” and wearing an ersatz Jewish nose and wig while making a Heil Hitler sign. He had to make the obligatory statement that he “loves Jews” while he wants their extermination in the Land of Israel. What does “Free Palestine” ultimately mean? Get rid of all taxes from the river to the sea? All regulation? While the reality is that much of the Arab population is present in the state of Israel due to the Jews bringing industry and agriculture to life in the formerly desolate Ottoman territory, many of the local Arabs and their supporters in the West have determined that the workers are the ones who deserve the factory — and not those who built it and took the risk to make it into a reality. The Arabs and the Jews were offered a state in 1947. Only the Jews made the offer into the real deal.

The Mackerel was doing warm-up band service for Ed Sheeran until the tour ran into one of the pillars of capitalism: the one who owns property makes the rules. Robert Kraft said that he would not have an active antisemite in his Foxborough stadium, and with that, the Mackerel was out of a gig. The other bands who are as famous as the one that played at my bar mitzvah quit in protest, though nobody actually noticed their absence. Sheeran, who looks like he should be operating an elevator somewhere in London, had his band walk out on him as well. Apparently, he is talented enough to play on his own and not have his fans throw their shoes at him or sue him into oblivion for their money back. One story claimed that people canceled due to the antisemite getting the boot, and Sheeran bought the tickets and gave them to a veteran organization for their distribution. That story was soon debunked. He is no Boy George on principle, as he knew who the Mackerel was when he brought him on board. There is no room for a plea of ignorance. Sorry. He could have done so before there was ubiquitous internet and YouTube. He should really get a haircut.

So why would the Mackerel demand the death of 8.5 million Jews but claim that he “loves” Jews? The simple answer is that we live in an age of total cowardice. I have not yet seen The Daily Wire’s new movie "Run, Hide Fight: Infidels," but I did see some clips online. In one, a jihadist simply kicks a gay student off a tall building. And while that is pretty standard practice in Muslim countries, there was a time when Christians and Jews were also extremely offended by the practice of homosexuality. I am not suggesting violence, hatred, or discrimination against gays. I am simply noting that everything in our age has become muted: we may note that homosexuality is described as an abomination in the Old Testament, and that’s about it. So the Mackerel can express his desire for lots of dead Jews with anodyne words like “Free Palestine!” and then claim that he really loves us. I am sure that he knows a couple of Jews whose knowledge of their Judaism matches that of the third-rate rapper himself. Everyone knows some good Jew; even Tucker brings on the occasional Jew who trashes Israel and Bibi Netanyahu. Now that’s a Jew I can really dig!

Sheeran tried to address his sinking ship and, in my mind, made a cardinal mistake. The pro-Palestinians have been protesting the removal of the Mackerel as part of his tour. So good old Ed decided to have a talk with his fans and said the forbidden words that there has been suffering on BOTH sides. I think that most normal human beings could agree with this statement. The mass violence against Jews on October 7, 2023, was documented by Hamas and others. And somewhere in Gaza is a family that lost their home while hating Hamas no less than the Jews do. But just as it is verboten to say, “White lives matter,” one cannot have any sympathy or concern for Jews or Israelis. How dare he suggest that there was suffering for anyone but those poor Palestinian terrorists and their human shields! How dare he place Israelis on the same human plane as the holy exploding Hamas folks. And just as people lost their jobs for suggesting that some group other than blacks have lives that matter, Sheeran’s suggesting that the mass murder of young folks at a music festival was horrific will buy him no love from the Mackerel fan club. He did the obligatory “Israel overreacted in Gaza” without offering a detailed program for the release of hostages and the defanging of Hamas. Maybe that will be on his next album.

And this ultimately has been the great success of Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is its resident “Palestinian” member. People in the West, including the U.S., have turned against Israel. The murder of 1,200 people in one day was ghastly, and the loss of 800 brave soldiers in the fighting has been horrific. But an additional long-term problem is that Israel has been turned into the bad guy. The New York Times had to make one of those corrections it only does if it gets caught: it said that Israelis still, somehow, see themselves as “victims” of the October 7 attacks. Obviously, the writer never saw a Bronson/Stallone/Schwarzenneger movie where the real good guy is attacked and then takes out 58 of their guys. The good and bad aspects are not measured by numbers or supposed suffering, but rather by actions. Nobody forced Hamas to kidnap the Bibas family and return only the father alive, having strangled to death his wife and two children (and tortured his mind over their fate until he was released). Hamas is evil, and its actions in rape, murder, torture, and violence have no place in a civilized society. Israel’s reaction is normal and is directed at ending the Hamas threat. But Qatar and the Brotherhood have succeeded in making Israel the bad guy via a nonexistent “genocide” and claims of fat Gazans dying of famine. Many people don’t like Jews, and so the false claims fall on receptive ears. For every brave Boy George standing up for the right, there are a dozen confused Sheerans babbling about both sides and a thousand Macklemores who hate Israel and want it gone.

I wish I had a simple solution for Israel hate. Some people blame Bibi. In reality, any Israeli leader would have done at least 90 percent of what he did. When the report came in that all of the Iranian leadership was in one place, who would have not sent the planes? Some have suggested that Israel should do some kind of apology tour. Israel is fighting for its very existence. Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the Houthis, etc. do not believe that Israel should exist at all and want all of the Jews gone. This is not a game. Americans can fight over who gets to use which bathroom and litigate the issue to the Supreme Court. Israelis realize that if they let one of their bad neighbors get too strong, then the situation may become irreversible. If you hate someone, his giving you a cake and offering you a ride in his Bentley will probably not change your negative view of him.

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