Jews Allowed But Not Welcome

Believe it or not, this is not about Ed Sheeran. Or Macklemore. Or Robert Kraft for that matter.

This is about the little 16 year old Jewish girl who saved up her summer wages to pay $500 to see a concert. This is about the fear, loneliness, and disappointment that a musical artist made her feel. And, most importantly, this is about recognizing the new reality: Jews are not welcome at cultural events.

Macklemore is not the only artist who shouts “Free Palestine” at all of his concerts. The artists like him have made it abundantly clear that we are not welcome at his shows.

We should be clear, it is not as if they won’t take our money. Jews and Zionists can purchase tickets for whatever shows we want to; we just are not welcome there.

The reason this concert became a tinderbox when so many others like it haven’t is simple: the headliner was not the one ostracizing the fans.

Any thinking person knows that Macklemore does not want Jews at his concerts. He wore the Jew-suit, he wrote a song about the people who kicked Zionists off of Columbia’s campus, and he has been making Palestine his entire comeback identity for 3 years now.

Ed Sheeran has not.

I first heard Sheeran’s music being covered on ukelele by a 14 year old girl at my Jewish sleep-away camp. We were having an impromptu talent show around the campfire. Three different girls sang “The A-Team” that night.

Every year, it was like clockwork. One girl would pull out the ukelele and then they would all start singing. It was the closest thing to a teenage anthem they had.

I pretended to hate the music because it was soft and girly, but secretly I liked the romance and sentimentality of it.

When I think of Ed Sheeran, I think of those days at summer camp, when Jewish boys and girls have those experiences that every teenage boy and girl should have, the early romances.

The first time you have a crush on someone, the first time you hold their hand… your first kiss.

(Renoir, La Promenade, 1870)

When I think of those summertime romances, I think of Ed Sheeran. He was the soundtrack of my Jewish summer.

But now he has become the first frost of a cold Jewish winter.

There were plenty of Jewish girls at that concert who came for the romance and sentimentality of his music that so many other girls their age came for. They came to be entertained and have an artistic experience. They spent their hard-earned money on live art, and they should be commended for that.

Now imagine how they felt, waiting for the real show to begin, when Macklemore suddenly shouts, “Free Palestine,” a phrase that is perhaps not hateful in and of itself but a phrase that has been used hatefully, quite literally, millions of times on the internet.

Wherever there are Jewish influencers on the internet, there are trolls typing “Free Palestine.” And Jewish teens are on the internet. They are on the front lines of the digital jihad.

The phrase “Free Palestine” is not necessarily anti-Jewish, but millions of people who are anti-Jewish yell “Free Palestine.” Let us not forget the lives of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim who were killed last year by a man chanting the exact same words Macklemore chanted from Sheeran’s stage.

The world has been so wrapped up in the love triangle between Macklemore, Ed Sheeran, and Robert Kraft, that the obvious victims of this whole experience have been completely forgotten: the ones who were actually hurt.

It is clear that Macklemore did not care about how his words made the audience feel, and it also seems clear that Sheeran wanted to have a neutral concert that anyone could enjoy, regardless of political affiliation.

In a world where politics precedes everything, he should be commended for that, even if he did eventually fold under the pressure of the Free Palestine movement.

But more importantly than any of this is the new reality we must accept – Zionists may be “allowed” at cultural events, but they certainly are not welcome.

The reception to Israel at the U.N. is not so different. Israel is allowed to attend; it just has to bear the absurd slander and ridicule of once-esteemed nations like France. It’s allowed to speak, but no one even has to pretend to listen.

Open displays of disdain are just table stakes for Jews in public these days. From Ed Sheeran concerts to the U.N., proud Zionist Jews are not welcome. This is the new normal. This is the new world, and we need a new approach.

More to come.

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Spread Love, Spread Light,

Am Yisrael Chai