Today, July 2nd, Disturbed will perform in Israel for the first time. For frontman David Draiman, who is of Jewish descent, the concert is a big deal. The singer’s maternal grandparents were concentration camp survivors, and he has been outspoken against the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign and its call for a cultural boycott of Israel, including calling for international musicians not to play shows in the country. Draiman has been particularly biting in his criticism of Roger Waters, one of the leading members of the BDS cause. In a new interview with Israel’s “Met Al Metal” radio show, the Disturbed frontman doubled down on his harsh take on the Pink Floyd icon.
“The man is so delusional, the man is so wrapped up in his own psychosis and his own hatred disguised as this quote-unquote BDS campaign,” Draiman said, as reported by Blabbermouth. “The man is a very sick man.
“He performed [in Israel] and he made up stories about it — incorrect stories. I don’t know if you’ve heard him try to go ahead and say how, during that one performance, he tried to address the Israeli crowd and ask for peace and supposedly was met with negativity and boos, and whatever, and then they go ahead and show the video from the actual performance so many years ago, and the Israeli fans were cheering for peace.
Draiman continued, “The guy’s delusion is severe. This is a guy who just celebrated getting a gift of a guitar from Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, for god’s sake — one of the most brutal dictators in the world, who has been massacring his own people, starving his own people. This is the guy’s hero. He defends the most evil dictators in the world — he defends Maduro, he defends [Russian president Vladimir] Putin. He defends anybody that can be viewed as socialist or communist. He’ll even defend the Syrian regime and [Syrian dictator Bashar Al] Assad, for god’s sake. I don’t know what he did, drug-wise, during his life, but whatever he did fried a bunch of brain cells. The guy is not operating on all cylinders anymore.” Listen to the full interview below.
Disturbed recently released the digital-only EP EP Live From Alexandra Palace, London.
