Why Ms. Rachel Won't Stay Silent About Gaza
Ms. Rachel — the bubbly, sing-songy children's YouTuber personality who has probably caught the affection of a child you know and love — has made it clear that she won't stop speaking up about the children in Gaza, even if it means risking her career.
Known off-screen as Rachel Accurso, Ms. Rachel has built a massive brand with over 15 million YouTube subscribers, a Netflix deal, and a line of merchandise.
In a recent interview with NPR, when asked if she's received pushback from financial backers about her outspoken stance, she said, "There has been, but I wouldn't be Ms. Rachel if I didn't deeply care about all kids. And I would risk everything, and I will risk my career over and over to stand up for them. It's all about the kids for me."
Ms. Rachel has been speaking out for the kids affected by the tragedy in Gaza since 2024, when she first shared a video fundraising for children in war zones, including those in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ukraine.
Since then, she's only gotten more outspoken, especially in the last month. In May, she shared a series of posts and videos of her meeting Rahaf, a 3-year-old girl who lost both her legs in an airstrike. Rahaf was able to be medically evacuated thanks to the help of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.
"When I saw pictures of Rahaf in Gaza on the hospital floor, I saw the devastating consequences of endless bombing and continuous violations of children's human rights," Ms. Rachel wrote. "Rahaf is now thriving because she has access to medical care, food, water and a safe place to live. It's so clear what we need to give children so they can grow up into healthy, happy adults."
Ms. Rachel shared that Rahaf's father and two younger brothers are still in Gaza. Ms. Rachel said Rahaf and her mother, Israa, also a teacher, avoid eating during FaceTime calls with them because the family has so little food.
In another post, Ms. Rachel sings and dances with Rahaf in her signature pink T-shirt, blue jean overalls, and ever-cheerful tone. But her caption is somber: "We both love our children with all of our hearts. We want the same thing for them. But my son will have dinner tonight, a story and snuggle with me, school in the morning… and hers won't. If the situation was the other way around, what would I hope Israa would do for me?"
This past week, Ms. Rachel addressed world leaders, calling out their silence. "Leaders, be so ashamed of your silence. Be so ashamed that you've seen the same images and videos that we've all seen, but they haven't moved you to do the right thing," she said. "Be so ashamed that you normally speak out for human rights. You normally speak out for children everywhere, but you won't know because they're Palestinian."
Ms. Rachel has received some criticism, like from pro-Israel group StopAntisemitism, who asked the DoJ to investigate Ms. Rachel over her posts about Palestinian children, arguing Ms. Rachel has been "remunerated to disseminate Hamas-aligned propaganda to her millions of followers."
Ms. Rachel did not respond to the allegations, but made her stance clear in recent posts. "It's not a crime to say the children of Gaza should have food and medical care – it's a crime to keep it from them," she posted.
She also reiterated her stance against all hate. In a post this week, she wrote, "I stand against all forms of hate and violence — including antisemitism, anti-Palestinian hate, anti-Arab hate, anti-Muslim hate and all hate meant to divide us and cause harm rather than bring us together. Every child, person and every family deserves to feel valued, loved and safe."
Earlier this year, she expressed condolences to the families of the Israeli embassy staff who were fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum. She also shared an Instagram Story in support of the Jewish community after a man attacked a peaceful protest in Boulder, Colorado, that was calling for the release of Israeli hostages.
To NPR, she said the criticism is "painful," but she sticks to her faith and advocacy. "I have to remind myself that people don't know my heart, and people try to tell you who you are, but you know who you are. And I know how deeply and equally I care for all children, and I do lean on my faith in that situation," she said.
On social media, her voice does not go unnoticed.
"God bless Ms. Rachel. A true inheritor of Mr. Rogers's legacy," one person wrote after another applauded Ms. Rachel for speaking out against leaders who have stayed silent on tragedies in Gaza.
"Thank you for using your voice when so many with power choose silence. The children—and all Palestinians—deserve better. May more hearts follow your lead ❤️," another wrote in her comments.
"Thank you for being so human," someone else wrote on her video dancing with Rahaf.
"As a Jew I just want to say thank you. This shows nothing but insane kindness and compassion. Sending so much love," another said.
According to U.N. agencies, of the 40,717 Palestinian bodies identified as of January, one-third – 13,319 — were children. An additional 25,000 have been estimated injured, and another 25,000 hospitalized for malnutrition.
You can support and donate to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
an hour ago
For Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves' co-star 10 years ago and once again, 'Ballerina' is a pirouette
NEW YORK -- Years before Ana de Armas was using an ice skate to slice a neck in 'From the World of John Wick: Ballerina,' she co-starred with Keanu Reeves in a much different film. The erotic thriller 'Knock Knock,' released in 2015, was de Armas' first Hollywood film. De Armas, born and raised in Cuba, had just come to Los Angeles after acting in Spain. English was new to her, so she had to learn her lines phonetically. 'It was tough and I felt miserable at times and very lonely,' she says in an interview. 'But I wanted to prove myself. I remember being in meetings with producers and they would be like, 'OK, I'll see you in a year when you learn English.' Before I left the office, I would say, 'I'll see you in two months.'' Since 'Knock Knock,' her rise to stardom has been one of the last decade's most meteoric. She was radiant even as a hologram in 'Blade Runner 2049.' She stole the show in Rian Johnson's star-studded 'Knives Out.' She breezed through the Bond movie 'No Time to Die.' She was Oscar nominated for her Marilyn Monroe in 'Blonde. ' And now, 10 years after those scenes with Reeves, de Armas is for the first time headlining a big summer action movie. In 'Ballerina,' in theaters Friday, de Armas' progressive development as an unlikely action star reaches a butt-kicking crescendo, inheriting the mantle of one of the most esteemed, high-body-count franchises. 'It's a big moment in my career, and I know that. I can see that,' she says. 'It makes me look back in many ways, just being with Keanu in another film in such a different place in my career. It definitely gives me perspective of the journey and everything since we met. Things have come far since then.' While de Armas, 37, isn't new to movie stardom, or the tabloid coverage that comes with it, many of her career highlights have been streaming releases. 'The Gray Man' and 'Blonde' were Netflix. 'Ghosted' was Apple TV+. But 'Ballerina' will rely on de Armas (and abiding 'John Wick' fandom) to put moviegoers in seats. Heading in, analysts expected an opening weekend of around $35-40 million, which would be a solid result for a spinoff that required extensive reshoots. Reviews, particularly for de Armas playing a ballerina-assassin, have been good. 'There's a lot of pressure,' says director Len Wiseman. 'It's a lot to carry all on her shoulders. But she'll be the first person to tell you: 'Put it on. Let me carry the weight. I'm totally game.'' De Armas, whose talents include the ability to be present and personable on even the most frenzied red carpets, has done the globe-trotting work to make 'Ballerina' a big deal: appearing at CinemaCon, gamely eating hot wings and cheerfully deflecting questions about her next film, 'Deeper,' with Tom Cruise. Yet for someone so comfortable in the spotlight, one of the more interesting facts about de Armas is that she lives part time in that bastion of young A-listers: Vermont. 'Yeah, it surprised many people,' she says, chuckling. 'As soon as I went up there, I knew that was going to be a place that would bring me happiness and sanity and peace. But I know for a Cuban who doesn't like cold very much, it's very strange.' Winding up in northern New England is just as unexpected as landing an action movie like 'Ballerina.' She grew up with the conviction, from age 12, that she would be an actor. But she studied theater. 'I never thought I was going to do action,' de Armas says. 'What was relatable for me was watching Cuban actors on TV and in movies. That was my reality. That's all I knew, so the actors I looked up to were those.' De Armas also had bad asthma, which makes some of the things she does in 'Ballerina' — a movie with a flamethrower duel — all the more remarkable to her. 'I couldn't do anything,' she remembers. 'I couldn't run. I sometimes couldn't play with my friends. I had to just be home and be still so I wouldn't get an asthma attack. So I never thought of myself as someone athletic or able to run just a block. So this has been a surprise.' At 14, she auditioned and got into Havana's National Theatre of Cuba. Four years later, with Spanish citizenship through her grandparents, she moved to Madrid to pursue acting. When she arrive in LA in 2014, she had to start all over again. Now as one of the top Latina stars in Hollywood, she's watched as immigrant paths like hers have grow increasingly arduous if not impossible. The day after she spoke to The Associated Press, the Trump administration announced a travel ban on 12 countries and heavy restrictions on citizens of other countries, including Cuba. 'I got here at a time when things were definitely easier in that sense,' says de Armas, who announced her then-imminent U.S. citizenship while hosting 'Saturday Night Live' in 2023. 'So I just feel very lucky for that. But it's difficult. Everything that's going on is very difficult and very sad and really challenging for many people. I definitely wish things were different.' Chad Stahelski, director of the four 'John Wick' films and producer of 'Ballerina,' was about to start production on 'John Wick: Chapter 4' when producer Basil Iwanyk and Nathan Kahane, president of Lionsgate, called to set up a Zoom about casting de Armas. He quickly watched every scene she had been in. 'How many people would have played the Bond girl kind of goofy like that?' he says. 'I know that I can harden people up. I know I can make them the assassin, but getting the charm and the love and the humor out of someone is trickier. But she had it.' In 'Knives Out,' Stahelski saw someone who could go from scared and uncertain to a look of 'I'm going to stab you in the eye.' 'I like that in my action heroes,' he says. 'I don't want to see the stoic, superhero vibe where everything's going to be OK.' But it wasn't just her acting or her charisma that convinced Stahelski. It was her life story. ''John Wick' is all hard work — and I don't mean just in the training. You've got to love it and put yourself out there,' says Stahelski. 'When you get her story about how she came from the age of 12, got into acting, what she sacrificed, what she did, that's what got my attention. 'Oh, she's a perseverer. She doesn't just enjoy the view, she enjoys the climb.'' When that quote is read back to her, de Armas laughs, and agrees. 'Being Cuban, and my upbringing and my family and everything I've done, I've never had a plan B,' she says. 'I've never had that thing of, 'Well, if it doesn't work, my family can help.' Or, 'I can do this other career.' This was it. And I also knew, besides being the thing I loved the most, this was my survival. This is how I live. This is how I feed myself and my family. So it's also a sense of, I don't know, responsibility.' That makes her reflect back to when she was just trying to make it in Hollywood, sounding out words, trying not to disappoint directors whose instructions she could barely understand, trying not to be intimidated by the action star across from her who had just finished shooting the first 'John Wick.' 'I was so committed to do it,' she says. 'I was so invested in the trying of it, just giving it a shot. When I give something a shot, I try my best, whatever that is. Then I can actually say: I gave it a shot.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
'Ginny & Georgia' Season 3 cast talks shocking season finale, physical transformations and diving into a more emotional story
An absolutely beloved show, the Netflix hit Ginny & Georgia is back for Season 3, and it will leave fans entertained, but also distraught and shocked. The big question for Season 3 is whether Georgia Miller, played by Brianne Howey, will be convicted in her murder trial, which of course makes for a particularly emotional journey for her daughter Ginny (Antonia Gentry). The cast of the series, Howey, Antonia Gentry, Sara Waisglass and Felix Mallard, who play Maxine "Max" and Marcus Baker, spoke to Yahoo Canada about all the twists, turns and devastating moment in Season 3. From Georgia losing her physical armour to divining into the reality of Marcus' depression, Max feeling left out of her friend group and Ginny taking a more active role in the decisions in her life. Brian, I want to start with you because there's something you did in the first episode that stuck with me throughout all 10 episodes, and I don't even know how intentional it was. But it's when she's being held and she looks at her hair and she like tries to curl it with her to be like, what's happening here? And as things progress, she does have this visual transformation, and I think there's one moment later on where she's like looking. At the looking in the mirror and her like naturally like curly hair is like coming out, which is similar to what we see in the flashbacks. Is it nice to be able to play with some of those things and again, I don't know how intentional it was or not, but to show this kind of Georgia kind of physical armor that she uses to kind of walk through the world. You're spot on. That's exact Georgia is code switching with her physically. And, and is constantly undergoing transformations and this is unfortunately one of the more raw transformations we see from Georgia because it's true she has, she can, she can't physically use any of the masks she's been hiding behind. There's no more, she's no more scapegoats. There's there's just no one, no one's in her corner. Um, so it was very intentional, um, trying to crimp and curl the hair back up and you're right, like the limp hair is sort of a metaphor for Georgia this season. Like there's no, there's no bells and whistles. This is Georgia's breakdown season and We we see if she rises from the ashes or not by the end. Antonia, for you, um, I think, you know, we've seen so much from Jenny, but I think it's been interesting this season to see her kind of feel like, and we get it mostly at the end of the season, where she feels like she's like taking control of the situation and having to take control of really hard situations. What was it like to guide and go to that space with her where, you know, she is very aware of what's happening and kind of wants to take control of a lot of decisions when she can. Oh, it's so fun. I'm like, yeah, finally. I love a bit of a, she's still reckless, but, but she's she's aware, she's making the choices. She's she's, it's less her reacting to her situation and she's being a lot more like she's gonna set things in motion. She's taking more um agency and The things that are going on in her life, and I think that that's really exciting and um yeah, maybe she's a little scary with it, but um I think that that's super fun. So I hope we see more of that in the future for Jenny. Sarah, I want to start with you because Max is one of my favorite characters, but also great when the first thing you do is bark at someone in the hallway. It's just A phenomenal start to the season. Um, but you know what, it was really fun to kind of watch her feel really left out in this friend group, and to see her try to navigate that. What was it like to go to that place for the season? I think it was a little hard for me just cause I definitely went through that in high school. I think everyone does at some point. I am also a deeply sympathetic person. And I overthink, and I think me and Max are kind of the same when it comes to that. So it was definitely, I was excited because it's always great when you can bring something to screen that you know a lot of people will resonate with, um, but it also sucked because obviously I'm like living in her shoes and and all these scenes where people are, you know, calling her dramatic or like just there's like inside jokes that she doesn't understand like. It's hard. It's hard to like be in that skin and actually have that happen to you. So it was definitely a challenge, but also one that I'm really proud of because I, I really do think it translates on screen quite beautifully. Felix, for you, I mean, you sat with this character for a bit, but honestly that last episode, I think your character like broke me. I was like, so moved by your performance, but he does go to a particularly dark place by the time we get to that last episode, as we see building up as an actor, what's it like to kind of get in that headspace and also get out of that headspace? Thank you. That was that was really sweet to hear. I, I really appreciate that it resonated with you and I think. As an actor, I think it's always like you, it's the dream kind of stuff, you know, you want your character to kind of go through big emotional journeys, big emotional arcs, and I think especially with Marcus, things get really interesting when he's in a not in a very good place and it and it, and it provides such an opportunity to try and play. And push and pull, especially with us to kind of play with our dynamic of like Max and wanting to help him and not being able to, and, and Mark is kind of being caught in his self-destructive kind of cycle, you know. I think the, the important thing with, with acting, you know, anyone, everyone has their own techniques, everyone has their own ways of getting in and out of it. There's such an under, I think for me, I think there needs to be such an understanding of like, you're at work, there's a stunt, and then you go home, you know, and, and protecting yourself and, and wanting to understand that place and come from a place of vulnerability and truth, and then also to be able to take your makeup off at the end of the day and go home and, and, and leave it be, because we're playing pretend. Um, but I think certainly for Marcus, you know, there's some playlists that kind of put you in a, in a weird space or put you in a, in maybe a more vulnerable state. I think we've worked with some really, Wonderful directors and and lots of, there was a lot of support on, on, on both sides of the camera to to kind of help us understand how far we can go and and and uh hopefully we did it justice, you know. Brandfree, one scene in particular that's interesting is when um Georgia has an interesting moment with Marcus that kind of like she's able to confide in him a little bit, but also see similarities. What was it like to to get that moment because I think it's particularly unique. This Georgia Marcus relationship is really interesting. To explore because I think they're probably the two people in this world who love Ginny the most, and they have that in common. And then ironically, Georgia can recognize herself in Marcus and I think it's really beautiful. It's, it's again another very small example where we see a little bit of change from Georgia. She's sort of able to step outside of herself, outside of herself and help not only Marcus, but also it's her relationship with Marcus's mom too, and that's very new for her and and she doesn't always get it right. So, Definitely a work in progress. I have to ask because every time I get to the end of one of these seasons, I'm like shocked by whatever the cliffhanger is, and you get a shock when you get to the end to read them to be like, oh, we're going there for potentially next season and where it's gonna go? Of course, yeah, I'm like how how are we doing this? How does this work? Like, huh? Yeah. Oh, OK. I had to read like I think I had to read the last few pages of episode 10 5 times before I understood what was happening. Um, and I still don't think I get it, uh, which is good, is good. It keeps me on my toes, very present, yeah.
Tom's Guide
2 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
Score! Get $50 off the Meta Quest 3S
Priced at $299, the Meta Quest 3S is a fantastic value for anyone looking to get into VR. Now that it's on sale, the Meta Quest 3S is a no-brainer for any gamer. For a limited time, you can grab the Meta Quest 3S (128GB) with Batman: Arkham Shadow and Meta Horizon+ (3 months) for $269 at Best Buy. That's one of the best Meta Quest 3S deals I've seen. If you want more storage, you can also get the Meta Quest 3S (256GB) with Batman: Arkham Shadow and Meta Horizon+ (3 months) for $349 at Best Buy. You're saving $30 and $50, respectively. The Meta Quest 3S is already the best VR headset for the money, but with $30 off the price and Batman: Arkham Shadows included, it now offers plenty of value. Expect the same performance as the pricier Quest 3, but with a smaller field of view and lower resolution. Other than that, expect to play an excellent VR game right off the bat, and even more thanks to its 3-month Quest+ subscription. Need more room to store your games and apps? This model comes with 256GB of storage space and saves you $50. In our Meta Quest 3S review, we named it the best entry-level VR headset around, and it's not just because of its affordable price. It sports the same performance as the Quest 3, all wrapped up in a compact design. With Batman: Arkham Shadow being included in this bundle, you'll be playing one of the best Meta Quest 3 games we've played. Playing as Batman is one thing, but Arkham Shadows is true to its "Arkham" legacy, with a great story, thrilling combat and an all new location filled with secrets to explore. It's one of those VR games you'll want to fully complete. Meanwhile, the free 3-month trial of Meta Horizon+ will give you access to an expansive catalog of games you can play instantly, plus two curated titles every month, and exclusive deals. (After your trial is up, you can cancel or pay $59.99/year for the service or $7.99/month). In addition to games, the Quest 3S is also great for streaming shows on Netflix and more. While we've found my Quest 3S to have a short battery life and be uncomfortable to wear after long sessions, you can always grab a VR battery strap to boost playtime and comfort. This Meta Quest 3S deal is a must for anyone looking to get into VR or has yet to experience becoming Batman (it's an absolute treat).
