Children's YouTube Influencer Ms. Rachel Plans to Have a Survivor From Gaza on Her Show

Gizmodo

5 days ago

Rachel Griffin-Accurso, a children's entertainer whose YouTube show Ms. Rachel routinely garners hundreds of millions of views, has found herself at the center of controversy in recent months over her support for the children of Gaza. On her social media profiles, Griffin-Accurso has often been outspoken about her concern for the untold number of children who are being shot, blown apart, and starved to death in Gaza as a result of the Israeli government's campaign against the Palestinians.
Now, she tells the Washington Post that she plans to have 3-year-old Rahaf Saed, a young survivor of an Israeli airstrike, on her program. Saed, a double amputee, lost both of her legs in an Israeli airstrike last summer. Griffin-Accurso recently posted a video of herself and Saed on her Instagram, in a preview of the upcoming episode.
'There are so many pictures and videos of babies and people that are skin and bones that don't have medical conditions,' the YouTuber recently wrote on Instagram. 'All of our religions say to care for the sick, the poor, the oppressed, the 'least of these.' May every child, sick or not, be fed, loved and treated with dignity.'
For her outspoken concern for the dying and mutilated hordes of children in Gaza, Griffin-Accurso has inspired the ire of many pro-Israel and Jewish advocacy groups, one of which has accused her of spreading Hamas propaganda.
In April, the group StopAntisemitism labeled Griffin-Accurso its 'Antisemite of the Week,' and lobbied the Trump Justice Department to investigate whether she is acting as a paid foreign agent. 'Given the vast sums of foreign funds that have been directed toward propagandizing our young people on college campuses, we suspect there is a similar dynamic in the online influencer space,' StopAntisemitism Director Liora Rez said in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi. The group presented no evidence that the YouTube host has engaged in any wrongdoing and Accurso called the allegations 'false, hurtful and absurd.'
Accurso also explained to the Post how the backlash she received from her support for Gazan children had impacted her:
'It broke my heart that people would be like, 'You don't care about Jewish kids because you did this,'' she says. 'I was in a lot of pain, because I just didn't understand. And now I am definitely speaking out, saying — if you care deeply about one group of kids, it does not mean that you don't care about other groups of kids. That's not fair, and it's not right to say that.'
She didn't stop posting about Gaza; she also continued to make statements condemning antisemitism and expressing grief for Israeli families whose children and loved ones were taken hostage by Hamas. 'I just felt led to keep going,' she says. 'I have this platform. Kids gave me this platform, and I want to use this platform for kids.'
The starvation crisis in Gaza has drawn criticism from governmental groups and a sea of critics, many of whom have labelled the Israeli government's policies as 'genocidal.' Even two of Israel's own rights groups recently concluded that the government's policies amount to genocide. Of course, there are still some people who just can't be convinced that the destruction of Gaza and tens of thousands of its inhabitants is a big deal. Perhaps the simple, kind nature of a children's show could help them open their minds.