DISTURBED singer David Draiman, who is of Jewish heritage, has told The Jerusalem Post that anti-Semitism is sharply on the rise, often from the sadly familiar direction of the far right, but also from Islamists and the far left. "It's terrifying, worse than I've ever seen in my lifetime. I never thought I would see the day when people were literally being attacked once again, when antisemitism is becoming mainstream," he said, citing the infamous New York Times cartoon earlier this year, alt-Right marches and continued antisemitic statements by Louis Farrakhan. "'Never again' has never had so much meaning and yet people are forgetting it," he said. "People are even questioning the validity of the numbers behind the Holocaust. It's mind-boggling to me." However, Draiman doesn't place the blame at the door of any one source, including U.S. President Donald Trump. "It's not just the Trump era," he said. "The country was divided before him, whether people want to admit it or not. I think that Trump is given too much credit. The hatred exists with or without him. It continues to fester and not enough is being done to bring people together. We're way too polarized and partisan these days, and I don't think laying the responsibility at the feet of Trump does it justice." DISTURBED will perform in Israel for the first time on July 2. Although David has visited the country many times, this will be the first DISTURBED concert in the Jewish state. Both of Draiman's maternal grandparents were survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, while many others on his mother's side were wiped out by the Nazis. The DISTURBED song "Never Again", from 2010's "Asylum" album, was written about the Holocaust and calls out people who deny it. The United States Holocaust Museum has featured Draiman in its "Voices On Anti-Semitism" podcasts. Draiman has in the past battled with Twitter trolls who have harassed him about his sometimes-controversial views regarding Israel and its ongoing conflict with the Palestinians. Draiman has had frequent heated exchanges with followers on Twitter, some of whom believe that Israel is not blameless in the ongoing conflict with Palestinians.
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