Simon Cowell’s used to taking heat for his oft-acerbic evaluations of the wannabe singers who come before him on “X-Factor” and “American Idol.”
But now he’s come under furious attack on social media — because he donated $150,000 to the Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces.
The group’s Web page says it was founded by former Holocaust survivors to “provide for the education and well-being” of those who serve in the IDF, along with the families of the fallen. Not unlike the many efforts here at home to support our troops.
But the Twitterverse is now bombarding Cowell with images of dead Palestinian children. Jamil Ramzan posted one such photo with this message: “Simon Cowell you allowed this to happen to more babies.”
Or Nicolas Helou: “Simon Cowell I hope you burn in the pits of hell and your children and family suffer what Palestinians do under the hands of butchers.”
People are free, of course, to criticize Cowell.
But the denunciations directed at him for funding rec centers and scholarships for IDF troops would have more credibility if they included some criticism of Hamas for its role in the deaths of Palestinian innocents: e.g., by storing rockets in Palestinian schools, launching rockets from mosques and neighborhoods and firing on troops from a hospital.