SEATTLE — Macklemore is having a hard time getting U.S. arenas to play ball for his “Free Palestine Tour.” Climate Pledge Arena — his hometown venue — is one of them.

Macklemore first announced the benefit tour in September with concrete dates set in Dublin, Paris and London, along with plans to bring the tour stateside. However, he revealed in a social media statement on Friday morning that major arenas across the country have refused to host him.

The rapper named Climate Pledge as one of nine large American arenas that turned him down, alongside New York’s Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center and UBS Arena; New Jersey’s Prudential Center; and California’s Intuit Dome, Kia Forum, Crypto.com Arena and Chase Center. Climate Pledge Arena did not respond to request for comment before press time.

Lack of availability did not appear to be the problem, as the “Can’t Hold Us” rapper described initially being provided with available dates at these venues through the end of the year in mid-September. Those dates, he said, were “suddenly off the table” when venues learned that they were meant to be benefit shows for Palestinians.

“In over twenty years of touring, I’ve never experienced anything like this,” the rapper wrote on Instagram.

The booking difficulties come after Macklemore’s removal from Ed Sheeran’s highly anticipated “Loop Tour” earlier this fall. After the rapper made impassioned statements in support of Palestinians during a tour stop at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Robert Kraft — owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, another stop on the tour — pressured Sheeran to boot Macklemore off the bill. If he didn’t, Kraft allegedly threatened to have the tour blacklisted from other major stadiums with support from other NFL owners and venue operators.

Sheeran addressed the situation in his own social media statement back in mid-September, stating that it was the “promoter’s decision” to remove Macklemore from the tour, not his own. Sheeran wrote that he had been involved with talks with venues to “build a bridge,” but was ultimately unsuccessful in resolving things. The kerfuffle spurred conversations about artist censorship and debates regarding Israel and Palestinians and prompted supporting acts on Sheeran’s tour to drop out in solidarity with Macklemore.

Amid the finger-pointing, the rapper announced the European dates for his “Free Palestine Tour,” along with his intention to donate all of his net earnings from opening on Sheeran’s tour to humanitarian and relief organizations supporting Palestinians. The Europe shows, which all sold out, concluded in London on Oct. 30, with Macklemore calling them “three of the most beautiful I’ve ever been a part of.”

For the rapper, the U.S. arena refusals are an instance of what he described as an effort to silence artists who speak out about Palestinians.

“The intimidation, manipulation and suppression I experienced are part of how those in power keep entertainers quiet,” Macklemore wrote in his Friday statement. “Shut up and dribble, or you will be punished.”

Despite the roadblocks, Macklemore said he intends to keep working to put on benefit shows for Palestinians. He has not announced any firm future dates, but made clear that the absence of arena bookings doesn’t mean the end of the tour. He emphasized that he will find another way to put them on — even if he has to take the shows outside.

“We will build our own stages,” he wrote. “They may own the arenas. But they do not own the people who fill them. And they never will.”

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