Disturbed insist music welcomes “everyone”, despite David Draiman’s Israel stance causing cancelled Belgium gig
Disturbed have insisted that they want to use the power of their music to be welcoming to “everyone”, despite their frontman David Draiman having famously signed bombs by the Israeli Defence Forces, the security concerns that arose from which caused a recent gig in Belgium to be cancelled.
Draiman stirred controversy last year when it emerged that he had signed a bomb that would be used by the Israeli army in its war in Gaza, subsequently leading to the municipality mayor of Vorst, Belgium, to cancel a planned gig that his band were set to perform there on October 15th.
When making the announcement of the cancellation last week, the mayor, Charles Spapens, said in a statement: “My priority and responsibility are the safety of the residents, spectators, demonstrators, and staff at [the venue] Forest National. Given the police’s unfavourable assessment after a risk assessment and the venue’s location, it was my duty to make this decision.”
However, Disturbed themselves have now responded to this decision, sharing via a post on their social media on October 13th that “music is where all our differences fade into the background.”
They added: “Music has the power to heal, to inspire and to bring people together, it’s not about what divides us. We have always made it a point that at our shows ALL are welcome no matter what you believe.”
The band ultimately noted that they were “saddened that our fans in Belgium are not going to be able to share in this celebration of music,” as they claimed, “Everyone who comes to a Disturbed concert is accepted and loved.”
Prior to the gig being cancelled, there was widespread speculation that Palestine activism groups were set to protest outside the venue in light of Draiman’s stance on Israel. This saw him booed by the audience when he performed at Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning concert in July, which he hit back at by branding his critics “a few Jew-hating morons”.
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