Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for the cancellation of Joan Rivers’ upcoming UK tour after she said that the Palestinians killed in the latest Gaza conflict “deserve to be dead”.

During the recent conflict in Gaza, a reporter asked Rivers for her reaction to the rising death toll of Palestinians and she replied:

“Good. Good!”

She then continued to blame the Palestinians for starting and conflict and their own deaths, saying:

“You’re dead. You deserve to be dead. You Started it!”

Her hostility and lack of compassion to the plight of Palestinians caused widespread outrage, and an online petition calling for a boycott of her October tour has received thousands signatures.

The petition, entitled “You are not welcome in our towns and cities” was launched by Newcastle City Councillor Dipu Ahad and has received support from more than 23,000 people including MP George Galloway.