From Iraq to Gaza: CODEPINK Challenges P!nk Over Her Changing Voice on War

Alecia Beth Moore-Hart (born September 8, 1979), known professionally as Pink (stylized in all caps), is an American singer and songwriter. She is known for her acrobatic stage presence and activism.

P!nk appeared to care about Iraqi children during the Iraq War but is now criticizing Macklemore for speaking about Palestinian suffering, the short answer is: we don’t actually know her personal reasoning, because she has not publicly given a detailed explanation.

There is, however, a very real apparent contradiction worth pointing out.

The Iraq-era P!nk

P!nk’s “Dear Mr. President” was released in 2006 and directly challenged George W. Bush over the Iraq War and other policies. The song asks how someone can sleep while innocent people suffer and specifically invokes the destruction caused by war. It was explicitly understood as an anti-war/protest song. 

So yes—the P!nk of that period was willing to use her enormous platform to question a government and express solidarity with people affected by its military policies.

What happened with Macklemore?

 Macklemore referenced Hind Rajab, a young Palestinian girl killed in Gaza, named after student demonstrators at Columbia University who renamed a campus building in her honor. The rapper then addressed Jewish concertgoers, saying that criticizing Israel and condemning their actions as genocide is not a condemnation of Jewish people and that his message is a message of peace and dignity for everyone.
 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dc_bH4_N1FN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&stkn=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

This part is much more recent. In September 2026, Macklemore performed “Hind's Hall” and said “Free Palestine” during his appearances opening for Ed Sheeran. He also emphasized that criticizing the Israeli government is not the same thing as attacking Jewish people. 

P!nk then reshared a StopAntisemitism post criticizing Macklemore's intervention. That generated criticism because people remembered her history of political activism and anti-war music. 

And importantly, P!nk has not publicly laid out a detailed argument explaining why she thinks Macklemore's advocacy for Palestinians is wrong. Reporting on the controversy likewise notes that she hasn't explained her position on the Israel-Palestine conflict in detail. 

So, I would be careful about saying “P!nk doesn't care about Palestinian children.” We can't know what's in her heart. But it is completely reasonable to ask:

Why was speaking out against civilian suffering during the Iraq War consistent with P!nk's values, while speaking out against civilian suffering in Gaza apparently became something she objected to?

That's the legitimate inconsistency people are pointing to. There is also an important distinction: supporting Palestinian civilians is not inherently the same thing as supporting Hamas, and criticizing the Israeli government is not inherently the same thing as antisemitism. Macklemore himself has explicitly made that distinction. 

In 2006, P!NK released "Dear Mr. President," a song criticizing George W. Bush for the Iraq War, among other things. In it, she sings:

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?

How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?

Let me tell you 'bout hard work

Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away...

You would think then that P!NK would care about the Palestinians living under Israeli bombs who have lost loved ones and homes. Yet that's not the case. Over the weekend, P!NK shared an Instagram post from StopAntisemitism slamming Macklemore for his pro-Palestine comments at a recent concert. That's right, she called out Macklemore for speaking up, as she once did, for the children and innocent civilians murdered by the war machine.

As a self-proclaimed feminist and human rights advocate, P!NK should be following Macklemore's lead. Instead, she's upholding Zionism — and smearing those who speak out for the oppressed.

In 2006, P!nk asked how a president could sleep while families suffered.

Today, critics are asking her a similar question: Does that same moral concern extend to Palestinian families in Gaza?

That is a question worth asking—and one P!nk's critics believe she should answer.

This is @Pink singing to Bush in 2011 about the Iraq War. You have to be a hypocrite to defend a genocide where thousands of children have died and continue to die.

@Pink how do you sleep while the rest of us cry? #pink #stopgenocide #freepalestine

https://x.com/Dan270288/status/2097027517416644731?s=20

Mahmoud El-Yousseph is a Palestinian freelance writer and retired U.S. Air Force veteran. He writes about U.S. foreign policy, Middle Eastern affairs, and justice.