Singer-songwriter John Ondrasik, also known as Five for Fighting, told Breitbart News on Sunday that he has been targeted by antisemites since he came out in support of Israel after October 7 — though he himself is not even Jewish.
Ondrasik spoke to this reporter on Breitbart News Sunday on SiriusXM Patriot 125 on Sunday evening, recalling his experiences as one of the few Hollywood performers to support Israel and oppose Hamas unabashedly.
Ondrasik is widely recognized as one of the greatest pop songwriters of his generation. His 2003 song “100 Years” continues to be a favorite, and his song “Superman” pays tribute to the American heroes of the September 11, 2001, terror attack.
In January, Ondrasik released a song, “OK (We Are Not OK),” in tribute to the victims of October 7, and in opposition to those who support the Palestinian terrorists who carried out the deadly attack.
“To me, the song really is about the culture, America, the world in general — that’s something broken. We are not OK. Something’s really wrong when it’s hard for many people to condemn the atrocities of October 7th,” he said.
“A lot of people … think this is a pro-Israel, anti-Palestinian song. It’s not. It’s a pro-civilization song, versus those who want to tear it down,” Ondrasik continued noting that one of the people who features in the video for the song is a Palestinian woman calling out Hamas.
Once the song came out, and was widely shared online, including by the Israeli government, Ondrasik found that he was targeted by antisemites.
“I became very quickly familiar with what it’s like to be Jewish. I’m not Jewish, Joel, but I have a sense now of the vitriol [and] hatred that Jewish people face. And it’s unacceptable,” he said.
Ondrasik has also performed since October 7 in Tel Aviv, Israel, in Hostage Square, a public space dedicated to events focused on the return of the more than 250 hostages (now over 100) seized by Hamas on October 7.
He discussed the antisemitic attack on a synagogue earlier Sunday in Los Angeles, where a pro-Palestinian mob blocked the entrance to prevent Jews from attending an event about Israel. Violence broke out between pro-Palestinian activists and members of the Jewish community.
“We’re going through 1938 all over again,” Ondrasik said, referring to Nazi Germany. But he vowed to fight.
“We’re going to the hellholes. I’m going to UCLA. We’re going to stand up to the bullies. We’re going to sing. We’re going to speak.”
Most of the “bullies,” he said, were just “paper tigers” once they faced opposition.
“If you truly care about Palestinians … why are you not standing up and screaming for Hamas to stop using people as human shields?” he asked.
Citing the dictum of Andrew Breitbart — whom Ondrasik knew well during his lifetime — that “politics is downstream from culture,” Ondrasik emphasized the importance of music in reaching young Americans and changing their minds.
“You have to do it through the arts,” he said.
Ondrasik’s tour dates can be found at his website, FiveforFighting.com.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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