Gene Simmons warns Sydney Festival activists protesting Israeli funding

Gene Simmons has warned activists protesting against Israeli sponsorship of Sydney Festival that women who like wearing makeup and gay men wouldn’t be welcome in Palestine.

KISS frontman Gene Simmons has told activists protesting against the Israeli Embassy’s sponsorship of the Sydney Festival that women who like wearing makeup and gay men wouldn’t be welcome in Palestine.

His comments come after he and other Hollywood heavyweights signed an open letter urging organisers to resist calls to censor the festival because other artists felt “unsafe” that $20,000 of Israeli money was used to help stage the dance production Decadance.

Gene Simmons, of KISS, has warned members of the LGBTQ community and women who like to wear makeup that they would be better off in Israel than Palestine. Picture: Getty

“I fully support everybody’s point of view that might be different from mine, that is what democracy is all about, but it is misdirected … the people involved are young creative people who are apolitical, they’re just doing what they do,” he told The Saturday Telegraph.

“The best thing to do is to target the people who make policy, not people who are dancing and singing in front of you,” he said.

He acknowledged that Israel and Palestine had a long and storied history, but said Israel was a democracy while Palestine’s Hamas used rockets to settle scores.

“Israel certainly has a past, but you can be a Muslim, a Christian and a Jew and walk down the street next to each other and nobody is going to bother you … because it is a democracy. Not so across the border,” he said.

“I personally have problems with Hamas, the likes of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, I have a problem with quite a few political entities who express themselves with rockets.”

Simmons added: “I would not recomend the LGBTQ community, or anybody who’s just outright gay or different, or women who want to be Western and wear makeup, to cross the border — I would strongly recommend you don’t do that,” he said.

“Every culture can decide for themselves what their culture is all about, I am not here to point fingers, but I am here to say if you’re in the LGBTQ community you’d probably do better in Israel.”

His comments come after an uproar from various other productions who were taking part in the Sydney Festival pulled out in protest.

The list so far includes Comedian Tom Ballard, television presenter Yumi Stynes and band Tropical F. k Storm. So far 11 events have been cancelled.