THERE HAVE BEEN calls for promoter MCD and the 3Arena venue to cancel an upcoming concert that will feature a musician who signed an Israeli bomb last year.

David Draiman is the lead singer of American heavy metal band Disturbed.

The band has sold over 17 million records worldwide and have three Grammy Award nominations.

Draiman is a self-described “very strong supporter of Israel” and last June, he posted images of himself online signing an IDF bomb and appeared to write “Fuck Hamas” on it.

Many people criticised the move, with one person writing that “this is the farthest thing the metal community fights for”.

Images posted by Disturbed's David Draiman last June

Disturbed are playing in the 3Arena on 22 October and a petition has been started to prevent Disturbed from performing there.

The petition currently has over 3,500 signatures.

‘Troubling’

Speaking to The Journal, People Before Profit’s Paul Murphy remarked that he’s received “a bunch of emails about it” and that “people are rightly appalled”.

He added that “people understandably don’t want to see this person and this band promoted in Ireland” and that MCD and the 3Arena “shouldn’t be using their resources to promote” Draiman.

“Morally, that would be the right thing to do, but I also think commercially, they’ll be making a mistake if they tie themselves to this position.”

Images posted by Disturbed's David Draiman last June David Draiman on Instagram David Draiman on Instagram

He noted that the concert isn’t until October and that there’s “plenty of time for MCD and the 3Arena to realise the public backlash that they’re seeing and to cancel this concert”.

“That’s what they should do and I think if they don’t, they’re going to see this campaign increase and they’re going to see their name associated with Draiman, and they’ll pay a price for it.”

Murphy added that the act of signing the IDF bomb was “horrific”.

“The genocide was well underway at this point and he can’t have claimed not to know that a large portion of these bombs were killing children.

“It’s very troubling and he’s not ashamed of it.

“But I think most right-thinking people, and definitely most people in Ireland, would think that he should be ashamed.”

Israel has been accused of genocide in a case brought to the International Court of Justice by South Africa.

The ICJ issued provisional measures against Israel after finding there are reasonable grounds to believe Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, where close to 47,000 people have been killed since October 2023. 

‘Morally repulsive’

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) did not start the petition but noted that it supports the “cultural boycott of Israel from the Palestinian BDS movement”.

“That doesn’t target individuals, it targets complicity, but there is a common-sense boycott, which is for individuals who incite violence, and I would certainly see someone signing an Israeli bomb as incitement to violence,” said Zoë Lawlor, chair of the IPSC.

“His band shouldn’t be playing and MCD should cancel the concert,” said Lawlor.

She noted the protests taking place weekly in support of Palestine across Ireland and remarked that the “majority of Irish people support sanctions on Israel and are totally against what’s being done to the Palestinian people”.

“So the idea that someone who is inciting to murder will be on a stage in Dublin is really disturbing.”

Lawlor added: “I can’t imagine the kind of cognitive dissonance or the complete switching off of your conscience that you would need to sign a bomb that is possibly going to be used to murder children.

“In that same series of photos where he’s signing that bomb, he’s there with the Israeli army.

“Israel is being investigated by the International Court of Justice for plausible genocide.

“Its Prime Minister and former defence minister are wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, including the crime of starvation.

“They’re still imposing this crime on Gaza because they blocked all aid and food.

“The idea that someone would sign a bomb, it’s just so morally repulsive, it’s very difficult to even get your head around.”

MCD and the 3Arena have been approached for comment.

Need more information on what is happening in Israel and Palestine? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to navigating the news online.