Montana Tucker, Dan Ahdoot, Zach Sage Fox, John Ondrasik and Judea Pearl were among those who spoke at the StandWithUs International Conference at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport from Feb. 27-March 2.
Aaron Bandler | Jewish Journal | March 12, 2025
Speaking to the 650 conference attendees on Feb. 28, Tucker, an actress, singer and social media influencer, said: “Look around this room. This is what I call resilience. This is what I call strength.” Tucker, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, declared that she is “a proud Jew and I stand with Israel.”
Tucker acknowledged that “this past year-and-a-half hasn’t been easy for all of us” and that since the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, “we have seen antisemitism explode in ways that I don’t think any of us have even imagined.” “And yet all of you are here,” added Tucker. “You’re not backing down but instead you are showing up. I am so proud of each and every one of you.”
Tucker recounted how she has been to Israel five times over the past year-and-a-half, where she has met with hostage families and released hostages. She also made a documentary, “Children of October 7th,” where Tucker interviewed children age 11-17 whose parents were murdered in the massacre or were taken hostage; she also interviewed the children of hostages whose bodies have been released . “Their strength, to have to recount their experience a year later … I told them that I would do everything that I can to make sure that this is getting out there and people hear their testimonies to never forget,” Tucker said. The documentary will premiere on Paramount Plus on April 23.
The social media influencer also recalled wearing a dress at the Feb. 2024 Grammys with a giant yellow ribbon to show support for the hostages. Tucker said that she was told that the Grammy’s communications department was “disappointed” in her wearing the ribbon because “it was too political.” Tucker refused to take it off, and was told that the Grammys couldn’t share her content. But, Tucker claimed, someone from The Recording Academy told her how awesome the dress was and asked to take a photo to share. She added that hostage families thanked Tucker, telling her “we finally feel seen outside of our echo chamber” and that little girls wore dresses like hers for Purim.
Ahdoot, a comedian and actor known for his roles in “Cobra Kai” and “Kickin’ It,” applauded everyone in the room for fighting antisemitism, which he said is getting out of control. “Jews are getting guns now?” he said, recalling how he was recently at a gun range and quipped that “it looked like a freaking Chabad”; when he pointed his arm out to shoot, a rabbi started wrapping it in tefillin. He told the audience how he performed eight shows in Israel, and one show in Dubai, where he was paid three times more than all of the Israel shows combined. Ahdoot, an Iranian Jew, said he visited the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem while in Israel and attempted to enter the Temple Mount. However, an Israeli soldier stopped him from entering the area, and that the soldier said he knew Ahdoot is not a Muslim because “your nose is too big.”
Ahdoot said that he wore a hostage necklace while on the red carpet for Cobra Kai and that he believes in Israel’s right to exist. He joked that the anti-Israel chants “intifada revolution” and “from the river to the sea” as being fun to sing like “from the window, to the wall” … “Sure it’s a little genocidal, but the beat slaps,” he quipped, adding that pro-Israel chants get too bogged down in minutia and facts rather than catchy slogans.
Zach Sage Fox, an actor, producer, writer and comic, warned that “Hamas and their allies have used the tools of social media to amplify antisemitism in a way we have never seen before.” Fox explained that he runs a television and film studio in New York and does a lot of advertising on social media. Fox explained how he used a hidden camera in his social media video “Gaza Graduation” to talk to students at Columbia University and get their unfiltered thoughts. Fox said he was able to catch a female humanities major outside of Barnard College saying that she thinks that rape and terrorism are “nuanced.” Fox declared this is “the next generation of students,” adding he hopes that the video will go viral so that student will never be able to get a job when she graduates.
His response to critiques that pro-Israel content is fringe is that it needs to be made “sexy and cool” and that “satire is one of the best tools we have” to expose the other side. Earlier, Fox had mentioned that his video “Wild West Bank,” where he interviewed Palestinians in the West Bank expressing open Jew-hatred and support for eradicating Israel, had an extra layer by adding a western-theme. Fox said “our stuff has to be more entertaining and interesting” because we’re outnumbered.
Pearl, chancellor professor of computer science at UCLA, National Academy of Sciences member and Daniel Pearl Foundation president, spoke about how he coined the term “Zionophobic” and uses that word instead of “antisemitism.” University administrators love it when the word “antisemitism” is used because it gives them an excuse to form a task force that will write a “wishy washy” report. He argued that Zionophobia is worse than antisemitism because Zionophobes wish for Israel to be destroyed, taking away the Jewish people’s refuge from antisemitism.
Ondrasik, a musician who performs as Five for Fighting, recalled giving out his cell phone number to attendees at last year’s conference, and was glad he did because he “heard from many students from colleges all around the world.” Ondrasik said the students “feel abandoned … and that’s because they have been.” He lamented that in some places, “the song remains the same.” But there has been positive change, as Ondrasik pointed out how Hamas has been “decimated,” Hezbollah is “a shadow of itself” and Iran “neutered.”
Ondrasik also pointed out that some presidents at college campuses “have been forced to resign.” He recently spoke to the president of Cornell University, and that while Professor Russell Rickford — who infamously referred to the Oct. 7 massacre as “exhilarating” — is still teaching at the university, Cornell’s president is “holding students accountable” and providing a blueprint for other Ivy League schools to follow.
The singer believes that comedy and music are how to win over youth, and while it broke his heart that students have been “on the front lines” of the battle for civilization, he’s glad they are “because you are brave” and that “you and Israel are literally saving the world.” He later broke out a rendition of his hit song “100 Years” on piano.
Another speaker was Luai Ahmed, a Yemeni-Swedish journalist. Ahmed, born and raised in Yemen, heard prayers “may Allah kill the Jews, may Allah kill the Zionists,” was taught “that Jews were evil and that Jews wanted to kill me,” “were all evil” and controlled the world, the media and wanted to kill Arabs as well as destroy Islam and thus “we had to get rid of them.”
But Ahmed overcame his antisemitism in three phrases. The first was meeting an Israeli Jew named Tal in Sweden in 2016, who caused Ahmed to realize that “the hate was one-sided.” Ahmed also saw friends and family members celebrate the Oct. 7 massacre, a traumatizing experience. The third phase involved Ahmed visiting Israel; he “could not remember a time in my life when I was so scared” while traveling to Israel. He was afraid he would be shot for being an Arab Muslim. But when he arrived, he saw a Bedouin Muslim holding sign calling for the freeing of the hostages; Ahmed also met Jonathan Elkhoury, a Lebanese Christian Israeli who defends Israel. “It felt surreal,” Ahmed said. “Like a fever dream.” And he met an Arab Israeli who told him that the onus is on them to speak the truth because the Arab world will never believe it if it comes from the Jews.
“Even if it might not seem so, there are so many people out there who see you, who know you and who love you,” Ahmed said, adding that he’s learned that if you give the Jews a little bit of love, they’ll give you 10 times as much love back. “Because that’s what the Jews are all about: love,” he said.
The conference also debuted workshops and sessions from RabbisUNITED . “We are delighted to offer the full range of free SWU educational resources and programs that Rabbis can adapt to their local needs,” RabbisUNITED Executive Director Matthew Abelson said in a statement.
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