The High Cost of Criticizing Israel

Two Israeli filmmakers are facing calls to have their citizenship revoked this week over a documentary that uses interviews with 24 IDF soldiers and intelligence officers to chronicle the genocide in Gaza. In the United States, hip-hop artist Macklemore was kicked off Ed Sheeran's tour merely for saying "Free Palestine" after stadium owners threatened to withhold venues from the remaining tour dates.

Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the Oscar-winning directors of the Gaza documentary NAZA, are facing calls from Miki Zohar, Israel’s Culture Minister, to have their Israeli citizenship revoked. 

Zohar accused the filmmakers of "treason against the state" and "betrayal of the country" after their film, which features anonymous whistleblowers alleging the use of AI-assisted systems in targeting civilians, won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and broke the festival record for the longest standing ovation at more than 24 minutes.

Zohar has formally requested the Ministry of Interior to investigate whether the directors' actions constitute a breach of loyalty that warrants stripping their citizenship, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also condemned the filmmakers collectively as a "disgrace."

The culture minister does not have the authority to revoke citizenship unilaterally. Such a move would require a formal legal process involving the interior minister and the courts, following a 2022 Israeli Supreme Court ruling that allows revocation only for proven acts of disloyalty or treason.

Macklemore (real name Benjamin Haggerty) is best known for his Grammy-winning single, Thrift Shop, which has over a billion streams on YouTube and Spotify. He was scheduled to be the featured act on the U.S. leg of pop superstar Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour. 

During shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, on Friday and Saturday, Macklemore told the crowd, "A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine. I said, Free Palestine! I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them." 

Macklemore then addressed people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank before performing his pro-Palestinian song Hind’s Hall, accompanied by images from Gaza on the stadium screens.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who also owns Gillette Stadium, helped organize pressure from other venues on the tour. The tour's promoter, Messina Touring Group, later said venues for upcoming shows said they would not permit concerts with Macklemore on the lineup, potentially jeopardizing the tour.

"We have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans," the company said.

"After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates," the statement continued.

For his part, Kraft said in a statement that Gillette Stadium "has a longstanding commitment to providing a welcoming environment for all guests and ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech." 

In 2019, Kraft, 77 at the time, was charged with two counts of first-degree solicitation of prostitution after he was videotaped paying for sexual services on two separate occasions at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter. The spa had been linked to human trafficking.

“Before I get into it, I want to say something that should be obvious. In this moment I think it matters. I am not a victim,” Macklemore wrote on Instagram. “Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety, and audiences around the world. Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families. The victims are the Palestinian people.”