The Palestinian queer activist Ghadir Shafie once said, “Ask what you can do, not what you can lose.” This quote appears in the book The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity by Sarah Schulman. In it, Schulman uses the Palestine solidarity movement as a framework to explore the complexity of solidarity, and offers this thought: “The machinery of dominance can make it impossible for the afflicted to win justice on their own steam. At that point, the collaboration and fellowship of people at other levels of power becomes necessary to create more justice for all.”

Last week, acts of solidarity by Irish artists and American and Danish artists with Irish heritage – who withdrew from Ed Sheeran’s tour – cracked something open. And not just in the live music industry, but in the Palestine solidarity movement more generally.

The reason for these musicians walking away from the tour of a lifetime is now well known.

Billionaire and stadium-owner Robert Kraft intervened over Sheeran’s support act, Macklemore, saying “Free Palestine” on stage and forced Macklemore off the tour. According to Macklemore, he rallied other stadium-owners to block concerts with Macklemore on the line-up. The infringement on artists’ freedom of expression was too much to bear for those lower down the bill.

‘I’ve built a life with someone but I feel more connection with my ex. Should I leave?’

My train fare may go up by €606 and that doesn’t include the seat

When two in five Irish people would........

© The Irish Times