Joan Rivers is receiving backlash after she was recorded telling a TMZ reporter that Palestinians deserve to be dead because of the conflict they started in Gaza, The Daily News reported.
In the recording outside the LAX airport, Rivers can be heard saying: "You're dead. You deserve to be dead. You started it. Don't you dare make me feel sad about that."
The comedian lifted her hands to her cheeks to mock outrage when a TMZ reporter mentioned that roughly 2,000 Palestinians have been killed since Operation Protective Edge was launched by the Israel Defense Forces a month ago.
"Oh my God! Tell that to the people in Hiroshima," she said, according to The Daily News. "When you declare war, you declare war. They started it. We now don't count who's dead."
Rivers told the reporter that the Israeli military mentioned impending attacks, and it's not Israel's fault for Palestine's refusal to heed the warnings. "At least the ones that were killed were the ones with low IQs," Rivers added in regards to Palestine's refusal to evacuate when they were told to.
On Facebook, Rivers issued an apology for her remarks, placing the blame back on the media for taking her comments out of context, according to News.com.
"The media, as usual, has decided to only quote the most out of context and inflammatory non sequitur rather than giving an accurate account of what my intentions were behind the statement. Along with every other sane person in this world, I am praying for peace," she said on her page.
"War is hell and it is unfortunate that civilians are victims of political conflicts," she added. In this country, we still feel the guilt of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 69 years later. Rivers believes that a non-existent scandal about her is being created by people wanting to sell newspapers and gain ratings.
