Commentary: Efforts to silence 'NAZA' filmmakers and Macklemore only amplifies their work

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Set us as preferred There’s no better way to draw attention to an artist’s work than threatening to shut it down.Take this week, when Macklemore was kicked off singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran’s tour at the behest of concert venue owners who found the rapper’s on-stage pleas to “Free Palestine” offensive.Now Macklemore, who hasn’t had a major hit since the 2010s, is relevant again.He has the support of artists, fans and thousands more outraged by his dismissal and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

The “Thrift Shop” rapper has emerged a hero, and a chastened Sheeran and Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft have pledged to donate millions toward humanitarian causes in “the region.”The stakes are considerably higher for Israeli documentarians Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened this week to revoke their citizenship for what he called the “shocking incitement” that is of their forthcoming documentary, “NAZA.”Apolitical singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is on the defense since Monday when Seattle rapper Macklemore announced that he had been dropped from Sheeran’s “Loop” tour.NAZA is an acronym used by Israeli military intelligence to describe the number of civilians it estimates will be killed in an airstrike.

The documentary captures the actions of Israel’s military after the Oct.7, 2023, Hamas attack in footage shot at night from Tel Aviv rooftops.

“NAZA” also features anonymous interviews with intelligence officers and soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces, and builds on reporting first published by the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine, the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call and The Guardian to make the case that mass civilian deaths were built into Israel’s target decisions in Gaza.When “NAZA” premiered at the Venice Film F...