Ms Rachel says she'll risk career to advocate for children in Gaza
In an interview with WBUR, a Boston-based public radio station, Ms Rachel, whose full name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, said she had received pushback for speaking out to raise awareness of the situation in Gaza, where more than 54,000 people have been killed in Israel's ongoing military assault.
But Accurso said she would continue to advocate for children's safety.
Related: Gaza's youngest influencer aged 11 among children killed by Israeli strikes
'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,' Accurso told WBUR.
The UN has described Gaza as 'the hungriest place on Earth', and warned that the Palestinian territory's entire population is at risk of famine. Accurso said she had recently met with Palestinian women whose children were suffering in Gaza.
'When you sit with a mother who's FaceTiming her boys in Gaza who don't have food, and you see that anguish and you are there with her, it really moves you – I'm sorry to get emotional – to do everything you can for her,' she said.
'And of course, you say: 'I need to do more. What can I do to help?' I do have a big platform, and I look at it as a responsibility.'
In April, a pro-Israel group urged the US attorney general to investigate Accurso over her messaging about children suffering in Gaza, and Accurso has been criticized by rightwing media and commentators.
Asked about the criticism, Accurso said: 'It's really painful. And 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.
'I care so deeply about every child. As a teacher, you have children from many different places, especially in New York City, and you care exactly the same about them. That's the basis of everything for me, is that children are equal, that they all deserve everything they need to thrive.'
Accurso said in May 2024 that she had faced 'bullying' after launching a fundraiser for children in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In April of this year, Accurso donated $1m to World Food Program USA, which provides meals for starving people in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and 11 other impoverished countries, after the Trump administration said it would end funding to the program.
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