One of Rosie O'Donnell's artworks that sparked outrage in the Jewish community. Via: Israellycool
One of Rosie O'Donnell's artworks that sparked outrage in the Jewish community. Via: Israellycool

Comedian and co-host of ABC’s “The View” Rosie O’Donnell sparked outrage last week over a series of paintings posted on the Store section of her personal website that critiqued the state of Israel’s handling of the Gaza conflict. The acrylic prints on canvas, which were being sold in an edition of 30, have since been removed from the site.

The most heavily-debated piece features a picture of what she initially suggested was a deceased Gazan child held in the arms of a emergency response worker next to an image of her own child. However, reports have since claimed that the image used is actually that of a wounded child in Syria, not Gaza.

O’Donnell responded to a Twitter user, who asked about the discrepancy, saying “I made it the day Israel started bombing gaza—the image of a dead child—next to the image of my own—is the point.” The response has also subsequently been removed from her twitter account.

Another painting featured in her store reportedly showed the same image with a drawing of a fighter jet behind it.

Responding to the controversy, University of Cincinnati professor Abraham H. Miller writes, “If there was any ambiguity about Rosie’s anti-Semitism, her most recent sale of personal art titled Israel Begins Bombing Gaza seemed to vitiate any doubts.”

Other O’Donnell works in memory of Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall that are still available on her website and retail for $20 a piece. She says she began painting after 9/11 and that she has “sold many pieces of art for thousands of dollars.”

She is not the only one who has inspired by the recent events in Gaza. Last summer, a group of Palestinian artists picked up their digital brushes to transform images of Israeli bombing into artworks (see “Palestinians Make Art with Gaza Bomb Smoke“).