Macklemore claims efforts to bring his “Free Palestine” benefit tour to the US have been thwarted by venue operators who have refused to host the shows.

In a statement released Friday, Macklemore singled out several major arenas, including Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center in New York, the Kia Forum, Intuit Dome, and Crypto.com Arena in the Los Angeles area, and Chase Center in San Francisco. According to the rapper, he initially “received available dates at these arenas through the end of the year,” but those offers were withdrawn once the venues learned the shows would benefit Palestine.

“The doors were closed,” Macklemore said. “The conversations were all different, but the result was the same.…