Macklemore says a string of big American venues refused to host his Free Palestine benefit concerts and that he feels punished for the cause.

In a lengthy Instagram statement Friday he said he wanted to bring the run to the States. Once venues learned the shows would raise money for Palestine he said nine major buildings turned him down.

He pointed to New York's Madison Square Garden along with Newark's Prudential Center Long Island's UBS Arena and several Southern California halls including Intuit Dome Kia Forum and Crypto.com Arena plus San Francisco's Chase Center and Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena.

According to the rapper the buildings first offered available dates then pulled them once the Palestine benefit angle was clear. "The doors were closed" he wrote. "The conversations were all different but the result was the same."

He said years of pressure and suppression have followed his activism. He argued that owners treat the words Free Palestine as a threat to systems they built their fortunes on.

He still hopes saying Free Palestine becomes ordinary rather than contested. He told fans that if arenas stay shut they can raise stages of their own.