War is something everyone hopes to avoid in their lifetime, but some people aren’t so lucky. The war in Palestine been called a genocide of Palestinians. The war has gained attention from people all over the world resulting in the war being on news programs nearly every week, causing protests to begin all over the United States in support of Palestine. Nearly all of the protests have been on college campuses, causing graduation ceremonies to be canceled or postponed such as Columbia University, over 10 University of California campuses, Rutgers University, and many more college campuses.
A major protest took place on April 30 at the Columbia University campus. Protestors unfurled a banner in honor of Hind Rajab. On January 26, 2024, a six-year-old Palestinian girl named Hind Rajab was killed by Israeli forces. She was the only survivor of an attack from an Israeli army tank firing at the car she and her family were fleeing in. Protests pleading for a ceasefire broke out everywhere in the United States. This resulted in protestors renaming Hamilton Hall at Columbia University to Hind’s Hall in honor of the young girl. According to yahoo.com, the hall was not officially renamed. Many famous people have stayed silent on the issue of the war, but rapper Macklemore refuses to.
On May 6th of this year, Macklemore released his song “Hind’s Hall.” It expresses his support for Palestine and protests supporting them, and how he wants a ceasefire. The song references genocide, the Nakba, and the killing of those who live in the Gaza Strip. Nakba is an Arabic word that means catastrophe, and is referring to the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948. He performed the song live on May 9 in New Zealand and said: “I stand here today and every day forward for the rest of my life in solidarity with the people of Palestine, with an open heart, in the belief that our collective liberation is at stake – that we all deserve freedom in this life of ours.”
The song’s release date was on the same day as the Met Gala in New York City. The event’s lavish design amongst the anti-war demonstrations has many people calling the situation similar to “The Hunger Games,” with the rich prospering and everyone else suffering. The lyrics from “Hind’s Hall” state “The music industry’s quiet, complicit in their platform of silence,” referring to the dozens of music artists attending and how none of them have said anything on the matter.
The song was released on all streaming platforms, but certain platforms have limited the it’s reach by restricting the song. One platform that has restricted its reach is YouTube, which has restricted the music video for anyone under 18 or not signed in. If they meet the requirements, viewers are met with a message stating the video contains graphic and violent images. People in the comment section of the video on YouTube have expressed their anger regarding this situation. One user wrote “YouTube didn’t put age restrictions on songs of two different Israeli artists calling death on Palestinians and threatening Dua Lipa and Bella Hadid, but they put on an age restriction on this. Sounds right.”
The song itself contains lyrics about politics in America, police brutality, stopping the pro-Palestine protests, and the war itself. Although he talks about these issues, according to a section in Time, the artist has said he is not claiming to be an expert on the subject of this war. Lyrics from the song include “What is threatenin’ about divesting and wantin’ peace? The problem isn’t the protests, it’s what they’re protestin’.” Macklemore also calls out many Israel support groups such as AIPAC, (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and CUFI, (Christians United for Israel).
Macklemore has also said he will be giving all the profit from the song to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency), an organization that works to aid refugees from Palestine, The Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank. Currently, they are focusing on Palestinian refugees. The agency provides education, health care, camp infrastructure, and so much more.
It’s important to recognize what is happening in other parts of the world and how it’s affecting people in the United States. War in other parts of the world can affect people here in the United States through inflation, politics, people’s attitudes, tension, and protesting. The war in Gaza has caused issues mainly in politics and protests. Currently, People can support Palestine in many ways, whether it be protesting, boosting videos that talk about the issues in Palestine, donating money to organizations like UNRWA, or just talking about it and spreading the word about how to help and support those who are directly suffering from the war.