K.I.S.S
Posted on 03/23/2011 7:17:13 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
JERUSALEM — Kiss’ Israeli-born singer-musician Gene Simmons is shouting out loud at the string of musicians who refuse to perform in his homeland.
“They’re fools,” the legendary bassist told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday, on his first return to Israel since leaving the country as a child more than 50 years ago.
Simmons described the visit as a “homecoming.” He offered a description of himself that might shock his legions of fans who know him as an American icon prone to spitting blood and sticking out his exceptionally long tongue:
“I’m Israeli. I’m a stranger in America. I’m an outsider,” he said, speaking in a hotel lobby across a valley from the walls of Jerusalem’s historic Old City. “I was born here and I’m proud of it.”
Simmons had harsh words for musicians like Elvis Costello and the Pixies who have recently canceled concerts to protest Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians. Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters has gone further, joining an organized movement dedicated to boycotting Israel and its exports, though he appeared in Israel in 2006.
“The countries they should be boycotting are the same countries that the populations are rebelling,” he said. “People long to be free ... And they sure as hell don’t want somebody who’s a ruler who hasn’t been elected by them.”
Simmons, 61, is visiting Israel as part of his reality show, “Gene Simmons Family Jewels,” which follows the adventures and musings of the rocker, his longtime girlfriend, Shannon Tweed, and their two children.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Not exactly the most persuasive spokesman but I agree with his message
I never liked Kiss, but I do like Simmons. He can be abrasive, but he tells you what he’s thinking, and most of what he’s thinking is down to earth, traditional stuff. He’s a mensch.
What a job for a 61 year old man.
“I’m Israeli. I’m a stranger in America. I’m an outsider,”
Or maybe he feels that he’s a stranger in Obama’s America? Sometimes I feel that way too.
He is also a well-known supporter of our troops.
He does tell it like it is.
Maybe it was just hyperbole.
Anti-Semitism is foolish.
Saw them for the first time ever a week ago yesterday. They stopped the performance, made everyone stand up and recite the pledge of allegiance, repeated the words “under God” to stress them... then brought out two members of the armed forces and donated $500K to the Wounded Warrior fund.
Class act.
He was born in Israel, so that makes him an Israeli by birth. Considering that his audience was Israelis in Israel, he was tailoring his message to his audience... stressing his heritage.
Better listen to him. He can slap you upside your head with his tongue.
“However, the above is a really strange thing to say, being that America has been so good to him.”
I can understand both you and Mr. Simmons.
Like Simmons, I am a sabra Israeli. I grew up in Israel. I fought for Israel. I love Israel.
I also happened to be born to American parents (and thus hold a USA Passport) and happen to live in the USA (for now) because I married an American citizen — and so I am probably more a US Citizen than Obama.
I feel like a stranger in every land, including Arizonia, except Israel.
I am an outsider, part of a People Apart.
It’s a very Jewish way to feel in the Diaspora.
I was taught this by my grandfather who was something like a 10th generation Frenchman, fought in WWI for the French, was a doctor in a small town, and delivered most of the towns’ babies, as had his father before him.
Educated, productive, generous, proud, Frenchman, he was.
When the Germans came, some of those babies he delivered, all grown up, came, in uniform, and tried to arrest him.
We’re strangers, whether we like it or not.
See my post above.
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Apparently, however, they don’t lay you off to cut costs.
You can trust him, he’s a “Doctor”.
Neat.
What people do not realize is that Gene Simmons and the rest of KISS really DO have black and white painted faces. It is what they look like “without the make up” that’s actually the mask.
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