A GoFundMe campaign initiated by Jewish American hard rocker David Draiman, lead singer of Disturbed, to raise $25,000 to provide security for fellow Jewish reggae roots singer Matisyahu, more than reached its goal in only two days.
Earlier this month, two Matisyahu shows were canceled - in Tucson, Arizona, and Santa Fe, New Mexico after the venues said they couldn’t guarantee security due to anti-Israel protests that were planned outside the shows.According to the singer, the issue was actually staff who were unwilling to work at the show. The artist said that he had offered to supplement these staff shortages, but he had been refused.
"They do this because they are either antisemitic or have confused their empathy for the Palestinian people with hatred for someone like me who holds empathy for both Israelis and Palestinians," Matisyahu said in social media posts at the time. "It truly is a sad day when dialogue with those you disagree with is abandoned for hate-mongering and silencing artistic expression."
Matisyahu has shown support to Israel since beginning of the war
Last month, Matisyahu visited Israel to show solidarity amid the war. He visited army bases and performed for soldiers.
Draiman, who has also been outspoken in support of Israel – often draping his shoulders in an Israeli flag and displaying a ‘F*** Hamas’ banner at shows on the current Disturbed tour in the US, heard about the cancellations and decided to take action.
He launched the funding campaign, writing: “This is David Draiman of Disturbed, and I’m raising funds to provide security for my friend, Matisyahu, an amazing, peace-loving artist, who is currently dealing with unprecedented levels of antisemitism. Matisyahu and I first met years ago when he performed in Miami Beach and I had my management reach out to him when I heard about his unfortunate show cancellations in Arizona. I couldn’t let that stand. Couldn’t let him and his family continue to be terrorized, so this campaign was started. All funds will be wire transferred to Matisyahu’s management team to pay for a private security detail for him and his family for the remainder of his current tour.”
Over the last 48 hours over 1,000 people donated to the campaign and as of Saturday night, more than $26,000 had been raised, which Draiman said will be used “to pay for private security for him and his family for the duration of his current tour.”
When asked by the Post on Saturday night what he took away from the speedy and generous reaction to his appeal, Draiman said, “we are united against the scourge of antisemitism. Never again is now.”