John Ondrasik Performs for Pro-Israel Event at Cornell, Site of Anti-Israel Protests

Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and musician John Ondrasik performed at a pro-Israel event at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, on Monday — defying the anti-Israel protest that has rocked the Ivy League campus.

As Breitbart News has noted, Ondrasik has been one of the most outspoken voices in the arts industry against antisemitism, and in solidarity with Israel, since the October 7, 2023, terror attack, though he himself is not Jewish.

The Cornell Daily Sun reported:

“Free Palestine has become the greatest, like, con job in the history of the planet,” John Ondrasik, also known as singer-songwriter for Five for Fighting, said at Bailey Hall on Monday night to an audience of approximately 60 people.

Ondrasik and Patricia Heaton, an Emmy-Award winning actress also known for founding the October 7th Coalition — a group of Christians who stand against rising antisemitism in America — were invited to speak and perform at “Combating Antisemitism through the Arts, on Campus and Beyond” in support of the Jewish community amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Ondrasik led the two-hour event, with Heaton extending her support and courage to the Jewish community at Cornell through a video.

Cornell has been a hotbed of anti-Israel and antisemitic protest. Last October, threats against Jewish students were so bad that Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) called those making the threats “terrorists.” Cornell, like other elite universities, had a pro-Palestinian “encampment” that disrupted campus life, though it disbanded without incident after the end of the school year. After a tumultuous spring, students returned to campus this fall only to be greeted by anti-Israel graffiti.

Ondrasik has written two songs about October 7th and its aftermath: “Song for the Hostages,” released in October. and “OK (We Are Not OK),” which he performed in April in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square just hours before the first missile and drone attack from Iran.

At Cornell, Ondrasik performed one of his most beloved songs, “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” which became popular in the U.S. after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Behind him, video played from his Tel Aviv appearance.

Despite the presence of radical anti-Israel activists on campus, there were no security issues or disruptions. “Bullies and cowards” is how Ondrasik described the pro-Palestinian radicals to Breitbart News, after noting their absence.

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 Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.