Kanye West Reportedly Expresses Support for Palestinians During Concert in China
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Kanye West, DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Ty Dolla Sign, Teyana Taylor, and Zoey Dollaz at ‘LIV on Sunday’ as part of Art Basel on Dec. 11, 2023. Photo: Seth Browarnik/startraksphoto.com via Cover Media via Reuters Connect
American rapper Kanye West, who now legally goes by the name Ye, displayed images that seemingly expressed support for the Palestinians during a listening event on Saturday at Wuyuan River Stadium in Haikou, China, according to the Donda Times.
Before the start of his performance, West reportedly displayed on a massive screen inside the arena a picture of an old Palestinian olive tree photographed during the first intifada that spanned from 1987-1993, during which Palestinians carried out a series of demonstrations and uprisings, including several terrorist attacks, against Israel. The “Mercy” singer also showed on the screen a photograph of a Palestinian olive tree that was vandalized in 2019 during an alleged settler hate crime that targeted farms in the northern West Bank.
The Donda Times reported that West additionally displayed before his show an image of olive trees from the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem where Jesus is said to have prayed the night before his crucifixion.
Before his show, Ye displayed a photo of an old Palestinian olive tree taken during the first intifada (1987-1993), a period of Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/OvdRSXyYII
— Donda Times (@dondatimes) September 28, 2024
West announced at his concert in China that his next album will be titled “Bully” and previewed a song from the upcoming album called “Beauty and the Beast.” He teased another song from the new album called “Preacher Man” at an earlier performance on Sept. 15 in China.
The rapper and Yeezy designer has made a series of antisemitic comments about Jews over the years, including in a newly released interview that he did with far-right political commentator Candace Owens in 2022, the same year that he published an antisemitic tweet about wanting to physically harm Jews. He has also included offensive lyrics about Jews in his songs, praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, shared antisemitic tropes on social media, and promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories and stereotypes during an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
