“Everybody Loves Raymond” and “The Middle” actress Patricia Heaton has created a nonprofit organization called the October 7th Coalition (O7C) to help Christians stand with the Jewish people and Israel.

Heaton, who has also been an outspoken advocate for the sanctity of life as honorary chair of Feminists for Life, appeared on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” Monday morning to explain what moved her to start O7C. She explained, “My dad served in World War II. We grew up with shows like ‘The Hiding Place’ with Corrie ten Boom, so we knew Nazis are bad. … So when October 7 happened and I saw it happening all over again — this time with Hamas bodycam footage proudly putting it on social media, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Not only that, about 48 hours later, campuses exploded with pro-Hamas protests and making Israel the bad guy, and making Jewish people the bad guy. I couldn’t believe it.”

The actress admits she was “outraged” and “looked around for everyone else who was going to be outraged, I assumed, because we all know this is terrible … and it was very silent. So my partner and I created the October 7th Coalition, or O7C, to help Christians activate to be as visibly and vocally supportive of Israel and the Jewish people and fight anti-Semitism as the other side was [for Gaza]. Because those protests were very organized. Those posters had been printed and ready to go for a long time. This has been in the works for a while. And so we need to step up and be as vocal and visible as the other side.”

“Fox & Friends” co-host Lawrence Jones asked Heaton if her Hollywood colleagues have been supportive of her efforts. She responded, “Nobody wants war. Nobody wants kids to die. That’s not the point. The point is Hamas has started all of this. Hamas is using their own people —adults and children — as shields. … And so I think my community in Hollywood thinks more with their hearts. And when they hear that people are losing their lives, they get very upset, as we all are. But the solution to it is not for Israel to do a ceasefire. It’s for Hamas to release the hostages, put down their arms, and Hamas is a terrorist organization, it’s not a legitimate government. They need to be out of business.”

Steve Doocy agreed and asked Heaton why so many young people on college campuses are siding with Hamas and are antisemitic. Heaton answered, “The universities have been taking billions of dollars from Qatar and other places and putting professors in who are very anti-Israel. And students … want their lives to have meaning, they want to be fighting for a great cause. And unfortunately, their minds have been twisted and propagandized to believe that being pro-Hamas is somehow helping people.”

Ainsley Earhardt asked Heaton how she became so strong in her faith. She explained that she is Catholic, and when October 7 happened, God put Ephesians 6:13 in her mind: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” This has become the motto of the October 7th Coalition. “We stand with the Jewish people, which is also standing for Christianity, it’s standing for Judeo-Christian principles, for freedom, for everything we hold dear and that people spilled their blood for. That’s what we’re standing for.”

October 7th Coalition’s goal is to unite, promote, and encourage meaningful public and private action in the Christian community to strengthen relationships with our Jewish friends and neighbors. They hold special events to help pastors, churches, and individual Christians find ways to stand up, fight anti-Semitism, and support their Jewish neighbors. You can learn more at october7coalition.com.