Gene Simmons of KISS Slams “Israel Boycotters”

Here’s a fun fact, did you know that legendary rocker Gene Simmons was born in Israel? Since leaving as a child, he has never returned – until now. In Israel filming his reality TV show “Gene Simmons Family Jewels,” he describes himself in an interview with the Associated Press saying “I’m Israeli. I’m a stranger in America. I’m an outsider…I was born here and I’m proud of it.”

Gene Simmons called out those who refuse to perform in his homeland for political reasons as “fools.” Boycotting a democratic state doesn’t make any sense, according to Simmons, saying “the countries they should be boycotting are the same countries that the populations are rebelling,” referring to the situation in the rest of the Middle East.

The KISS bassist and singer grew up in northern Israel, in Tirat Carmel not far from central Haifa. He moved to the United States when he was only 8, and over 50 years later, he describes his return to the Holy Land as “a homecoming.” While his busy schedule over the years has prolonged his return, he has always been a friend to Israel. Many may recall that during the 2006 war against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Gene Simmons made a personal video thanking an injured Israeli soldier, calling him “a hero.”

To read more from his interview with AP, including more about his upbringing in Israel, click here.

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