DUBLIN: US rapper Macklemore on Monday launched his new "Free Palestine Tour" in Dublin after being dropped as a supporting act by British pop star Ed Sheeran over pro-Palestinian comments.
Standing in lines outside the venue for the first show in the Irish capital, which promoters said had sold out, excited fans praised the 43-year-old's stance.
"Macklemore's support for Palestine is huge. He's stood up, and he's put himself on the line instead of taking the easy way out," said Michael Keating, a 31-year-old who works in insurance, told AFP.
"He's risking his popularity, his future, his family's future – everything just for peace. And it is very important."
The "Thrift Shop" star was removed from Sheeran's US tour after shouting "Free Palestine!" on stage and telling Palestinians they were "not forgotten".
Sheeran has said the decision to drop Macklemore was made by tour promoters, not him – provoking outrage among musicians and pro-Palestinian activists.
"The USA is supposed to be the country of free speech, and instead people are being shut down. (Sheeran) should have stood up for what Macklemore was doing," said Grainne Healy, a 60-year-old retiree who had come to the Dublin concert with a former schoolfriend.
Four other supporting artists, including American singer Finneas, also pulled out of Sheeran's tour in solidarity with Macklemore, and Sheeran later broke his silence on the situation in Gaza at a concert in Philadelphia, calling it "unjustifiable and disproportionate".
Last month Macklemore announced his Free Palestine Tour, with shows in London and Paris in late October and US dates also planned, saying all proceeds would benefit pro-Palestinian organisations.
Outside Dublin's 3Arena, traders were selling fans half-Irish half-Palestinian flags, Free Palestine bucket hats and Palestinian-style keffiyeh scarves.
"Ever since (Macklemore) started talking about Palestine, it makes us like him even more," said one fan, Freya Dorrity, an 18-year-old student.
Maria Liddy, a 40-year-old in a red-and-white Palestinian-style keffiyeh scarf, said she was there "to show solidarity" with the people of Palestine, adding that "artists should never be censored in any capacity".