Ms Rachel draws widespread praise for speaking out in defence of Palestinian children
On Monday, the popular American children's content creator, Ms Rachel, explained her decision to speak up for the children of Gaza, saying that the real controversy lies in remaining silent over their suffering.
In a conversation with British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan, she reflected on the pressure to stay quiet and said: "I think it should be controversial to not say anything."
Rachel Griffin Accurso, best known for her YouTube series Songs for Littles, which teaches toddlers nursery rhymes and early learning concepts to an audience of 14.7 million subscribers. She has also used her social media platforms to speak out about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza that has unfolded since Israel launched its military campaign after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on the southern part of the country.
Accurso criticised the backlash she's received for supporting children in crisis, expressing disbelief that speaking up for children enduring immense hardship could be seen as controversial. She questioned why advocating for these children is met with resistance.
In a statement last month, the pro-Israel organisation StopAntisemitism urged attorney general Pam Bondi to look into whether Accurso is receiving foreign funding to promote anti-Israel messaging aimed at influencing public sentiment. The group accused her of spreading Hamas propaganda, alleging that some of the figures and images she's posted about children in Gaza are inaccurate.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
On social media, StopAntisemitism said that Ms Rachel had become 'an amplifier of Hamas propaganda' since October 2023, sharing content to her over 20 million followers that included an allegedly misrepresented ''starving child' from Gaza photo', and statistics they called false regarding Palestinian child casualties.
'It's sad that people try to make it controversial when you speak out for children that are facing immeasurable suffering,' said Accurso, speaking to Hassan.
The content creator pushed back against claims that expressing concern for children in Gaza means disregarding others, explaining that such a viewpoint is deeply misguided.
"Our compassion doesn't have boundaries, our borders. We just love kids," she said.
Social media users have praised and celebrated Ms Rachel's interview and her compassionate words for Palestinian children.
"𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜" - Ms. Rachel.
No amount of trolling and smear attacks by pro-Israeli fanatics can stop Ms. Rachel from speaking up for Palestinian children enduring the most visible #genocide. pic.twitter.com/8q0Hy58IuK — Nusaybah (@hate_stopper) May 12, 2025
Many suggested that by amplifying the voices of the Palestinian children, Ms Rachel is doing more than any elected official.
Literally by just doing an extended interview Ms Rachel has done more than almost any other elected official or celebrity when it comes to Gaza. https://t.co/KktyccXwrX — dann0bann0 (@dann0bann0) May 13, 2025
In the interview, Accurso rejected claims that she is antisemitic simply because she speaks out for the lives of children in Palestine. She said that as an educator, her sympathy extends to all children, wherever they are in the world.
Accurso also said that she still remembered the voice of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl who pleaded for help for hours, trapped inside a car with her dead family before she was killed by the Israeli military.
'There are multiple moments I can't forget. There was a little boy who was really shocked, and he was shaking. There was so much terror in his eyes. A healthcare worker was being so compassionate, you see that compassion. He finally was able to cry because [he] was just so shocked that he couldn't even cry.'
Ms Rachel received widespread praise by social media users, who said 'it would have been so easy to not say anything'.
Hard to overstate the impact of people with politics-free platforms, like Ms. Rachel, speaking out about Israel's genocide on Gaza. Would've been so easy for her to not say anything. https://t.co/FhdDoFLRg9 — David Doel (@daviddoel) May 12, 2025
Israeli forces have killed more than 52,800 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since the war on the enclave began, including at least 15,000 children.
An estimated 10,000 more people are missing and presumed dead, while nearly 120,000 have been wounded.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Middle East Eye
4 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Syria closes controversial Rukban refugee camp near Jordanian border
Syrian authorities have shut down a controversial refugee camp near the Jordanian border that has long faced criticism over dire conditions for its residents. A spokesperson for the Syrian Emergency Task Force, which coordinated activity related to Rukban camp, said all those previously hosted there had returned home and the camp is now 'closed and empty'. Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said on X on Saturday that the closure of the camp, established in the early years of the Syrian civil war in 2011, marked the end of "a tragic and sorrowful chapter of displacement stories created by the bygone regime's war machine". At its height, the camp hosted as many as 100,000 inhabitants. But over time, many left due to the poor conditions, returning either to government-held areas or other parts of Syria with the help of smugglers. Numbers also dwindled after Jordan closed its border and stopped regular aid deliveries in 2016. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters With little to no aid coming in, residents lacked access to food staples, basic medical supplies and health infrastructure. They were forced to live in makeshift dwellings without access to running water or basic sanitation, while the school system was all but nonexistent. "Rukban was not just a camp, it was the triangle of death that bore witness to the cruelty of siege and starvation, where the regime left people to face their painful fate in the barren desert," added Mustafa. Armed groups led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham overthrew the government of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Since then, many Syrians living in exile or in camps have begun returning to their original homes, no longer fearing reprisals from Assad's government. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says around 1.87 million Syrians have returned to their places of origin since December. However, the IOM says the "lack of economic opportunities and essential services" still poses a challenge for returnees.
Gulf Today
4 minutes ago
- Gulf Today
Gaza rescuers say Israel fire kills 36, six of them near aid centre
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 36 Palestinians on Saturday, six of them in a shooting near a US-backed aid distribution centre. The shooting deaths were the latest reported near the aid centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) in the southern district of Rafah and came after it resumed distributions following a brief suspension in the wake of similar deaths earlier this week. An aid boat with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, was meanwhile nearing Gaza in a bid to highlight the plight of Palestinians in the face of an Israeli blockade that has only been partially eased. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that at around 7:00 am (0400 GMT), "six people were killed and several others wounded by the forces of the Israeli occupation near the Al-Alam roundabout." A mourner carries the body of a Palestinian who was killed, according to medics, in Israeli strikes, at Al Shifa Hospital. Reuters Gazans have gathered at the roundabout almost daily since late May to collect humanitarian aid from the GHF aid centre about one kilometre (a little over half a mile) away. AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls compiled by the civil defence agency or the circumstances of the deaths it reports. The Israeli military told AFP that troops had fired "warning shots" at individuals that it said were "advancing in a way that endangered the troops." Palestinians spray water at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Gaza City on Saturday. Reuters Samir Abu Hadid, who was there early Saturday, told AFP that thousands of people had gathered near the roundabout. "As soon as some people tried to advance towards the aid centre, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire from armoured vehicles stationed near the centre, firing into the air and then at civilians," Abu Hadid said. Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinians who were killed, according to medics, in Israeli strikes, at Al Shifa Hospital. Reuters The GHF, officially a private effort with opaque funding, began operations in late May as Israel partially eased a more than two-month aid blockade on the territory. UN agencies and major aid groups have declined to work with it, citing concerns it serves Israeli military goals. Activist boat nears Gaza Israel has come under increasing international criticism over the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations warned in May that the entire population was at risk of famine. The aid boat Madleen, organised by an international activist coalition, was sailing towards Gaza on Saturday, aiming to breach Israel's naval blockade and deliver aid to the territory, organisers said. "We are now sailing off the Egyptian coast," German human rights activist Yasemin Acar told AFP. "We are all good," she added. In a statement from London, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza — a member organisation of the flotilla coalition — said the ship had entered Egyptian waters. The group said it remains in contact with international legal and human rights bodies to ensure the safety of those on board, warning that any interception would constitute "a blatant violation of international humanitarian law." Agence France-Presse
Middle East Eye
4 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Cambridge students hit out at injunctions 'criminalising' Palestine encampment
Activists have hit out at a number of University of Cambridge colleges after they obtained court injunctions "criminalising" pro-Palestine encampments on campus. Interim injunctions were obtained by Trinity College and St John's College earlier this week after campaigners re-established encampments in protest at what they said was a failure by the university to divest from Israeli companies. A lawyer for the colleges has asked for the injunctions to be made final and to last 12 months, arguing that the protests have been disruptive to students taking exams and that the colleges are "concerned about the environment of fear and intimidation created by masked protesters". Cambridge for Palestine (C4P) said the move amounts to "criminalising" protests on campus. The group posted footage on their Instagram page appearing to show police earlier this week threatening protesters with imprisonment. Speaking to Middle East Eye on Saturday, a spokesperson for C4P, who preferred to remain anonymous, said the university was aiming to obscure a consensus among the student body that "rejects the university's long-standing partnership in genocide". New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "Just months ago, when Cambridge enacted its first anti-protest injunction, over a thousand students, faculty and staff members united to condemn the university's repressive and racist action," they said. "Our university is isolating itself with its blatant defence of Zionist violence, and we will not allow it to go unchecked as it bankrolls scholasticide and mass murder." 'Our university is isolating itself with its blatant defence of Zionist violence' - C4P activist MEE contacted the University of Cambridge for comment, but had received no response at the time of publication. C4P says Trinity College holds investments in companies such as Elbit Systems, Caterpillar, L3Harris Technologies, and Barclays despite the university's previous commitment to review its 'responsible investment' policy following a similar months-long encampment last year. The group said the renewed protest last week came after months of student, faculty and community "frustration" over the university's failure to honour those pledges. The group has outlined four core demands, including full disclosure of financial ties to companies implicated in Israeli violations of international law, full divestment from them and reinvestment in Palestinian communities. In March, the university was granted a High Court order barring pro-Palestine actions from three locations on its campus until the end of July 2025 - a reduced version of its original bid to secure a five-year ban, which was rejected in court on 27 February. The University of Cambridge is made up of 31 self-governing colleges that operate autonomously, including in their financial investments. Many of them have faced protests over their investments since the launch of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023. On 20 May, King's College announced it would divest millions from the arms industry and companies complicit in "the occupation of Ukraine and Palestinian territories", becoming the first Oxford or Cambridge college to take such measures. Since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, pro-Palestinian students around the world have launched encampments in support of Gaza and in opposition to university links to Israel. The actions have been met with a fierce crackdown by security and police on several campuses.
