Former Nirvana bassist and political activist Krist Novoselic is defending Eddie Vedder and the controversial comments he recently made onstage condemning war.

In a post on his official website, Novoselic said the Pearl Jam frontman was completely justified in expressing his views. “Eddie has gotten some criticism over comments he made about the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis," said Novoselic. "That situation has been messed up for so long, it is no wonder that even mentioning it is toxic.”

Vedder came under fire last week when the Israeli media interpreted some of his anti-war sentiments to be specifically in reference to the country's ongoing conflict with Palestine. Although Vedder said his comments were about war in general, he later posted a statement on Pearl Jam's website saying, "War hurts. It hurts no matter which sides the bombs are falling on."

Novoselic said, "The people of Palestine and Israel deserve peace and prosperity. It is time to stop repeating the same old arguments, dogma and hate speech. It is the knuckleheads on both sides that should be criticized and not the singer from a rock band."

He also went on to share his own views on the current unrest in the Gaza Strip. "Our world is connected as never before," said Novoselic. "People from all corners of the planet share culture and commerce at the click of a mouse. In contrast to this great convergence of humanity, Israel is building tall concrete walls while Palestinians fire rockets over them. There's a shared recent history between these people, and I think there could be a shared future that's more in tune with what's going on with our ever-connected universe."

Here are the onstage comments that started it all:

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