Disturbed frontman David Draiman has long advocated for causes related to his Jewish heritage, and over the years his unwavering support of Israel has seen him faced with considerable pushback. In particular his support for the Israel Defense Forces among the Israel-Gaza War that broke out in response to the brutal Hamas-led October 07th, 2023 attack on Israel, has seen him gather numerous critics.
In 2024, Draiman visited with IDF forces in Israel along the Gaza border and was photographed signing an IDF artillery shell with the phrase ‘Fuck Hamas’. For many, it would appear that action was a turning point in their opinion on Draiman.
His signing of that shell that day has seen him met with allegations of warmongering and condoning genocide of Palestinian people pretty much ever since. Some critics have gone as far as to allege that the bomb he signed likely would have killed innocent victims, citing the reported high rate of Palestinian civilian casualties incurred in the conflict.
Draiman quickly addressed that controversy initially on social media, stating weeks after the shell signing, in early July 2024:
“For the record, I am not “pro genocide”, or anything of the sort.
“I am pro #peace and #coexistence between ALL PEOPLE.
Always have been, always will be.No one yearns for a LASTING, REAL peace between #Israelis and #Palestinians more than I…
However, that can’t happen with a genocidal death cult (#Hamas), who massacred, tortured, raped, and kidnapped innocents, in charge of governing #Gaza.
War is hell, it is tragic beyond description, but this war, and all bloodshed associated with it, is on Hamas’ hands.
For both #Israelis and #Palestinians to have the chance at a real future of coexistence, the cancer known as #Hamas must be eradicated. If they would just #ReleaseTheHostages, and surrender, this would all be over, but instead they enjoy WILLINGLY sacrificing their own citizens
…using them as human shields, and using their continued, and maddening martyrdom to garner support on the world stage.
It’s an absolutely horrible situation, but, as much as it pains us to do what we must to defend ourselves, losing our own precious loved ones in the process…
…we are not willing to die for the sake of their madness. We aren’t going anywhere. Either of us. That’s a reality that won’t go away, period.
I pray that this horror is over soon. My
Family (2000+ that have lived in Israel since the late 1800’s) are tired of war. We all are.”
Still Draiman‘s persistent advocacy for Israel and the country’s military operations amid that conflict, and the controversial photo, has led to numerous disputes, from being called out by Irish activists Kneecap and actor John Cusack, last year, among others. Last October a Brussels Disturbed show was canceled by local authorities over security concerns related to Draiman‘s aforementioned actions.
In a new appearance on ‘The Magnificent Others With Billy Corgan‘ podcast, which is hosted by The Smashing Pumpkins mastermind Billy Corgan, Draiman was asked about that controversy over the signing and whether or not he would do it again now.
Speaking first of his Jewish roots, Draiman stated [transcribed by theprp.com]:
“I come from a family of Holocaust survivors. 90% of my mother’s side of the family was wiped out by the Nazis. My grandfather was in Dachau. My grandmother was in Auschwitz. My grandmother and my grandfather on my father’s side have been living in the land of Israel since before it was established as a state, since the early 1900s we’ve had family there. My grandmother is Yemenite. Her family immigrated from them.
My grandfather’s Polish. He came in from Poland with the rest of his family. Everyone was escaping violence. Everyone was escaping the destruction and the horrors of the Holocaust.”
When asked why he personally feels the need to be so outspoken on Jewish concerns, he replied:
“I’m not trying to be a tribalist, to be honest. I’m trying to be a humanist. I truly do have compassion for the Palestinian people. Truly, truly do. A lot of what everyone, for the past couple years, since I visited Israel after October 7th to pay my respects and support however I could, and just meet with families of the hostages — I’ve been blessed to actually befriend some of the former hostages over the course of the past couple years. It’s been a very surreal experience.
But what everybody loves to pick on is there’s this one wonderful picture of me signing an artillery shell by artillery unit that was on the Gaza border that I went to visit during that stay. And they’re like, ‘Oh, well, you signed the you signed a bomb. The bomb absolutely, definitely killed children or whatever else.'”
When Corgan pointed out that Kneecap voiced that criticism against him, Draiman offered:
“Of course. Of course. And that’s what everybody will go after after me about. But you know, here’s the thing. Believe it or not, contrary to public opinion, Jews are allowed to fight back. And if there is a genocidal organization on your border who is constantly launching rockets day after day, who’s committing the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust…
I have calls from my mother crying to me in her safe room, in her bomb shelter as rockets are coming down. I have friends of mine who barely survived the Nova Music Festival massacre because they decided to hide in a pile of garbage while friends of theirs were being raped around them and mutilated, who barely escaped with their lives, who were shot in the process of escape.
You know, people don’t understand there are human beings behind all of this destruction. There are lives. There’s real consequences. This isn’t some movie. This isn’t some storyline.”
When Corgan went on to ask if he would sign the artillery shell again, after all the backlash he’s faced in the years since doing so, he replied:
“Billy. I would sign every single piece of military equipment in existence if it meant that Hamas was finally eradicated and that the Palestinian people had a real chance at a real future. Extremism is a cancer for anyone, for any part of society or civilization. And they have been raised to hate and slaughter and lust over the murder of Jews since the day they were born. That’s unfortunate.
There are UN organizations like UNRA who facilitate this hatred, whose schools have teaching material that is pure incitement, that have cartoon characters that glorify the murder of Jews. That whole aspect of society needs to be deradicalized. It’s comparable to what needed to happen to Nazi Germany after World War II. You have an entire group of people who live, breathe, and die for one thing, and that is to to to slaughter Jews. And for anyone to have an issue,
They always have an issue when you fight back. It’s never… everyone loves dead Jews. Everyone loves persecuted Jews. Everyone loves to feel bad. But God forbid we actually raise our fist to defend ourselves, then we’re the bad guy. You know, the insinuation that every single piece of military equipment that was used in that conflict killed innocents is absolutely preposterous.
You’re talking about even if you take Hamas’s health ministries numbers at face value, you’re talking about the lowest civilian to combatant ratio in modern warfare history. You’re talking about a war that needed to be waged in an urban environment. In an urban environment where not only is martyrdom glorified, but it’s encouraged and it’s part of the culture.
You have Palestinian mothers that dream of their sons one day becoming shahed, becoming martyrs, and and it’s a disgusting way to live life. I wish better for them.”
