David Draiman has made a history of making music that antagonizes. That is partly what hard rock and metal bands do, and Disturbed has been quite good at that. But at the Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne farewell show, Draiman was booed for something he did away from music.
In June 2024, Draiman visited Israel and signed a bomb with the words "F*** Hamas." Therein lies the complex issue.
While Draiman has every right to speak his mind about the Israel and Gaza conflict, the signing of the bomb is probably what upsets many people. His words are not going to hurt anyone. A bomb that he signs is going to. He was literally signing his agreement that people should die, including the potential that some are children.
Disturbed's David Draiman takes the weak way out of being booed
Instead of being booed and moving on, Draiman later posted a long rant on his Instagram page which included this sentence: "Yes, there were a few boos when I walked out, but I came to pay homage to my teachers, my idols, the mighty Black Sabbath, and I wasn’t about to let a few Jew hating morons deter that."
Draiman took something people were reacting to that he did and tried to turn that reaction into something false. The great many who booed him (and there were a lot of jeers) probably have no issues with people of the Jewish faith. They likely do have an issue with someone signing a bomb that kills people.
And if one is going to do that then they should expect some pushback, especially at an event that was meant to bring people together to honor two icons of rock: Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne.
He added, "The live stream shows the truth. Both songs went over great. You wouldn’t know that from some of the media however, who are only too eager to roast marshmallows next to this dumpster fire of a (expletive) story."
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Were the songs fine? Sure. Draiman was part of one of the two supergroups that appeared during the farewell concert. Again, though, the music wasn't what had upset people. Plus, if one watched the live stream they do know the truth. Draiman was booed. Loudly.
Had Draiman simply spoken his pro-Israel views, maybe there would still have been a few who would push back. The same situation is occurring with the hip-hop trio Kneecap, who have faced legal issues for having some pro-Palestine images and words at their concerts. But imagine if Kneecap had signed a bullet or bomb that Hamas had.
If they had done so, and they haven't, then whatever jeers directed their way would be warranted. The same should be said of Draiman's situation, only he did something worse than say a few words or fly a flag. Not that he will ever understand he needs to own that. He simply wants to try to punch down at people who don't like what he did.