Kneecap Call David Draiman a “Straight Up C*nt,” He Responds with Same Old Talking Points

When it comes to having an argument, there comes a time when you can either attempt to de-escalate things and cool the conversation down or you can double down on your principles and go on the offensive. It seems that the Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap and Disturbed frontman David Draiman have both opted for the latter, as insults and over-generalizations were flung between the two on social media over the weekend.

This latest bout sprung up when Kneecap posted a now infamous photo of Draiman signing an Israeli artillery shell before it was deployed against targets in Gaza along with the following statement:

“We don’t care what religion anyone is… or if they’ve one at all. We love all sound cunts. Smiling and signing bombs dropped to murder kids and other people’s families just makes you a straight up cunt. Simple as. Free Palestine.”

Now, there’s no way to tell if it was ultimately used on civilians in Gaza, but the numbers would certainly point to that being the case.

Kneecap made international headlines over the past year for their vocal condemnation of Israel’s actions in Gaza. That sort of thing drew the ire of pro-Israeli and pro-Zionist figures in and out of the music industry. They famously got Sharon Osbourne all up in her feels about things following their Coachella performance and they aptly told her to listen to “War Pigs.” They’ve been the focus of Draiman’s ire for a while now, too. Most recently, he condemned Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello for praising Kneecap by calling his assertion that they’re the new Rage “shameful.”

Of course, Draiman wasn’t going to let Kneecap get the last word. Instead, he dusted off the tired old “you hate Jews” rhetoric and it was off to the races.

“Here’s the thing, and I’ll speak to you in small words, so you understand. That shell was meant for HAMAS. You know, the organization who has sworn to murder all Jews, not just Israelis, time and time again, including my family. You shoot at Jews? Expect Jews to shoot back. All innocent lives lost in this conflict are due to Hamas using their own people as cannon fodder so that they can gain the sympathy of those who are only too eager to jump on the Jew hating train. If the hostages were released and Hamas surrendered, the bloodshed would end.

“But neither you, nor Hamas really want that. Because without dead martyred Palestinians to fuel your zeitgeist, both you and them lose power. Enjoy your 5 minutes gentlemen. It could have been done with your art, but instead you chose to do it with hatred. Bye now.”

Honestly, you can probably guess what Draiman’s response was going to be well before he even posted it. It’s the same tired playbook that’s been run by Zionists and pro-Israeli figures since the start of the conflict. No one’s claiming that Israel shouldn’t have the right to defend itself, but the disproportionate response has gotten to be a bit too much for many people around the world.

In most of the conversation, people standing against Kneecap and other acts like Bob Vylan who’ve spoken out against Israel’s genocidal acts in Gaza claim it’s all because they “hate Jews”. But it’s possible to take issue with a country’s government and the murderous actions it’s been taking for more than a year and a half without hating that country’s civilian population.

Here’s the facts: ever since October 7, 2023, Israel has been shelling, bombing, sniping, rounding up and killing Palestinians at an almost biblical rate. In response to the admittedly horrific actions perpetrated by Hamas militants that caused the death of 1,300 Israelis (a majority of which were civilians), Israel has gone on to murder more than 55,000 Palestinians, wound more than 127,000, and displace nearly two million people from their homes. That response has raised the ire of global leaders and human rights organizations around the globe.

The alleged war crimes are horrific, too. Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported on the fact that IDF soldiers were ordered to fire at unarmed civilians looking to get food from a known distribution site. That’s why the younger generations are calling that shit out — they’re witnessing the largest case of genocide/ethnic cleansing/displacement/collective punishment taking place in real time. It’s horrific and for those of us in the U.S., people are sick of our tax dollars funding Israel’s disproportionate actions.

Regardless of which stance you take on this issue, it’s not likely that people are going to change their minds anytime soon. I’m sure we’ll be hearing all about these little squabbles until the bombs stop falling and the bullets stop flying.