Key Points
- US rapper Macklemore announced he is cancelling an upcoming concert in Dubai.
- He said people had asked him to cancel the concert in solidarity with the Sudanese people.
- Macklemore said he will not perform in the UAE until it 'stops arming' the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan.
Macklemore has announced he is cancelling an upcoming show in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates' involvement in the conflict in Sudan, charges the Gulf state has denied.
The rapper best known for hits like 2012's Thrift Shop made the announcement in a post on social media on Saturday.
"I have decided to cancel my upcoming show in Dubai this October", he said.
"Over the last several months, I've had a number of people reach out to me, sharing resources and asking me to cancel the show in solidarity with the people of Sudan.
"Until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF, I will not perform there," Macklemore added, referring to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that have been battling the Sundanese army.
War has raged since April 2023 between the Sudanese army, under the country's de facto ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, which is commanded by Burhan's former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti.
For months, the army has accused the UAE of supporting the RSF.
In June, Sudan's ambassador to the United Nations Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed called Abu Dhabi's financial and military support for the RSF the "main reason behind this protracted war".
The UAE has denied allegations of RSF support as "disinformation", saying that its efforts are focused exclusively towards de-escalation and alleviating Sudan's humanitarian suffering.
Human rights experts have called the war in Sudan "the world's largest humanitarian conflict".
The World Health Organization reported in May that the country is facing imminent famine, with 3.6 million children "acutely malnourished" of a total of 18 million people experiencing acute hunger.
While information about casualties is scarce, the UN estimates that tens of thousands of people have been killed in the power struggle over the past 18 months.
Macklemore has released socially aware music in the past, supporting LGBTIQ+ rights while also criticising ills, including poverty and consumerism.
In his latest track released in May, Macklemore voices support for Palestinians and also praises students across the United States protesting against the war in Gaza.
The song, Hind's Hall, is named after a building at Columbia University in New York that students recently occupied and renamed after Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza.
