A difference of opinions between rock stars usually doesn’t matter all that much. Beefs happen. Tensions flare. And eventually the man-children calm down and go their separate ways more often than not. But when religious ideology and an ongoing genocide are the backdrop for the issue, shit carries a bit more weight.
Over the weekend during Green Day‘s set at Coachella, Billy Joe Armstrong ruffled a few feathers by changing a line in the band’s 2004 track “Jesus of Suburbia” to be a reference to the suffering Palestinian civilians have endured for the last 556 days. He took the original line “Runnin’ away from pain when you’ve been victimized” and turned it into “Runnin’ away from pain like the kids from Palestine.”
Of course, that disturbed some pro-Israeli folks that are apparently fine with collective punishment and the murder of innocent civilians. And in the rock and metal world, no one was more disturbed than Disturbed‘s frontman David Draiman. So naturally, he did what you’d expect in 2025 — he took to Elon Musk’s X to try to feel some Israeli talking points to Armstrong.
“Open offer to #BillyJoeArmstrong from Green Day. You know I respect you brother. I’d love to have the opportunity for you to hear the Israeli/Jewish side of this horrific war.
“I’m available to discuss whenever you are. No judgement, nothing preconceived. Let me know.”
The “nothing preconceived” part is particularly rich, given the fact that we all know Draiman’s position in this brutal and disproportionate response to a horrific terror attack on October 7, 2023. I mean, we’re talking about a guy who signed a bomb that likely went on to destroy an apartment building or maim a child.
The devastation that’s gone on in Gaza since the October 7 terror attacks committed by Hamas has been horrific. Though no one in their right mind should ever try to justify the murder of Israeli civilians that took place that day, it’s no stretch to call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response one of the more brutal acts of collective punishment against a civilian population the world’s seen in a long time.
The conflict has caused bands to drop off of festivals out of protest and do things like put out huge compilation albums and special edition merch to raise money for the Palestinian people.
We at MetalSucks want to take the time to condemn the terrorists in Hamas and the Israeli Defense Force’s militaristic response on a civilian population in equal measure. Of course the murder of roughly 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023 is unforgivable and a response was necessary. But the killing of approximately 51,000 people (most of which are women and children) and the complete or partial destruction of more than 90% of the building in the Gaza Strip is a completely disproportionate response.
Source: www.metalsucks.net
