Latest news with #PalestinianChildren
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ms. Rachel rails against Hollywood celebrities over Gaza silence following 'feud' with Olivia Munn
YouTube star and children's entertainer Ms. Rachel has come out swinging against Hollywood by calling out celebrities over their silence on Gaza. The former preschool teacher, whose real name is Rachel Griffin-Accurso, 42, has been an fierce critic against Israel's assault on Gaza and has emerged as one of the internet's most outspoken advocates for the thousands of Palestinian children that have been maimed and killed from the war. In her latest statement, the Maine-born performer railed against Hollywood in a post shared to Threads. She scathed, 'Celebrities - You won't get canceled for saying people in Gaza should not be starved to death.' She continued, 'We will remember your silence. And that you chose it over people's lives.' The statement came just one day after Rachel vowed not to work with anybody that has stayed silent on the Gaza situation. 'To anyone asking to with work with me who hasn't spoken out about Gaza: Thank you for the request. I'm not comfortable working with anyone who hasn't spoken out about Gaza. Much love and God bless,' she wrote. Not only does Ms. Rachel boast almost 16 million subscribers on YouTube, her self-titled show is also one of the most-watched shows on Netflix. Her latest comments on Gaza come after she found herself in a public clash with actress Olivia Munn. It began after Munn - who is mom to two kids - explained in an interview her personal preferences when it comes to the kind of children's content she allows in her household. 'I know kids love [Ms. Rachel], but the thing is, if I can't watch it, I'm not going to spend the rest of my life going crazy,' she said. Munn, 44, also shared that she avoids cartoons, noting that when her son Malcolm asked for Blue's Clues, she responded, 'Hell no. Not in my house.' She added that while her partner, John Mulaney, introduced their son to Spider-Man cartoons, she prefers live-action films like Spider-Man: Homecoming. 'If you want to watch the real-life ones, then we can watch that,' she said. 'It might be a little too old for him, but I can't take the cartoons.' While Munn's comments appeared to be more about her personal viewing preferences than criticism of any specific creator, it did not stop online speculation that it was a slight on Ms. Rachel. And afterwards, Ms. Rachel furiously hit back to express her disappointment at the coverage of her allegedly brewing 'feud' with the actress. In her latest statement, the Maine-born performer blasted Hollywood, writing, 'Celebrities - You won't get cancelled for saying people in Gaza should not be starved to death' The statement came just one day after Rachel vowed not to work with anybody that has stayed silent on the Gaza situation In response, Rachel commented directly on the social media posts of certain outlets, writing, 'I'd rather you cover my advocacy for kids in Gaza.' She later followed up with a post on her own Instagram account, sharing screenshots of those comments alongside a caption that read: 'WHO CARES?! 'I'd rather you cover me advocating for kids in Gaza who are literally starving, largest cohort of child amputees in modern history, thousands and thousands killed – no medical care, no education, no homes… do better!!!' she added. She emphasized that her frustration was directed at the coverage - not at Munn. 'Not against her at all and don't care that she doesn't want to watch the show - all my love to her and her family - disappointed in the outlets,' Ms. Rachel wrote. Since the start of the humanitarian crisis, Ms. Rachel has continuously used her platform to raise awareness about the conditions faced by children in Gaza, including lack of access to food, education, and medical care. Rachel has even made videos with Palestinian children who were able to escape Gaza - including three-year-old Rahaf who was left a double amputee after Israel's siege of the region. The children's entertainer has repeatedly said that her advocacy is non-negotiable - even if it comes at the expense of her career. 'I am fully willing to risk my career for this,' she stated in a video shared earlier this year. 'It is more important to me to speak out than to remain silent.'
BreakingNews.ie
16-07-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Palestinian children's trip to Ireland from West Bank to play GAA cancelled
GAA Palestine has confirmed that a tour of a group of Palestinians who were to visit Ireland will no longer go ahead. The group, which included 33 Palestinian children and young teenagers, were scheduled to arrive in Dublin on Friday; however, they were denied entry by the Department of Justice. Advertisement In a statement, the GAA Palestine executive said it was with a heavy heart that it announced that the planned trip could no longer go ahead. We are outrageous and disappointed by the Department of Justice's handling of the GAA Palestine Summer Tour. See link for full statement #LetThemPlay — gaa_palestine (@GAA_Palestine) July 14, 2025 'The delay stemming from issues with the Department of Justice has ultimately resulted in this difficult decision, as time has run out to make alternative arrangements,' it added. The touring party was scheduled to depart from the West Bank on Wednesday morning. 'We initially postponed departure for today, as the Department of Justice had informed us they were reviewing the appeal,' the statement said. Advertisement 'However, the embassy in Tel Aviv is now closed – we had a driver pick up the passports to allow us to explore other options for the touring party to travel elsewhere, allowing us to provide these young athletes with the respite and opportunity they deserve. 'Even if visas are issued at this late stage, delays at checkpoints and borders are likely to cause severe disruptions and extended delays. 'Giving the children hope again, only for that hope to be dashed once more, would be too cruel. 'We are deeply disappointed by the narrative that has circulated suggesting that necessary documentation was not provided or that we were late in the submission of our appeal. Advertisement 'We have been working diligently for months with the embassy in Israel. 'Despite numerous appeals over the past week requesting engagement, we have received no response from the Department of Justice. 'Our legal team has also attempted to communicate directly with the department, but we have once again been ignored. 'We are profoundly upset for all our GAA Palestine members, for the clubs that went to great lengths to organise this meaningful trip, and for the families who generously volunteered to host our touring party – transforming their homes with bunk beds and painting walls to welcome these young GAA players from the West Bank to Ireland. Advertisement 'To our sponsors for their generosity, we do hope we can work together again in the future.' It said it will look to other places where the children will be welcomed and celebrated. Earlier on Wednesday, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said that all visa applications have to be assessed 'fairly and accurately'. 'I reject that criticism. Very many people apply for visas from the Department of Justice. Not all of them get media coverage. All of them have to be assessed fairly and accurately by the department,' the Fianna Fáil minister said. Advertisement 'We have immigration rules in this country for people who want to come here, whether it's on a short-term visa or long-term visa, and no matter who you are, you have to comply with the immigration rules. 'I am not going to change those rules simply because there is media pressure put on me.'
The Guardian
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on the children of Gaza: when 17,000 die, it's more than a mistake
On Sunday, an Israeli strike killed six Palestinian children – and four adults – as they queued for water in a refugee camp. The deaths of children may be the most terrible part of any war. It is not only the suffering of the innocent and powerless, and the unimaginable pain of surviving parents – as dreadful as those are – but the knowledge of lives ended when they had barely begun, of futures that should have stretched long into the distance severed in an instant. As shocking as Sunday's deaths were, they are commonplace in Gaza: a classroom-worth of children have been killed each day since the war began. What marked them out was that so many deaths happened at once and publicly; and that Israel's military felt obliged to acknowledge its responsibility – though without any great contrition. It claimed that a 'technical error with the munition' caused it to miss its intended target and added that it 'regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians'. What does this bloodless, bureaucratic language have to do with the bloody deaths of six already traumatised children? These deaths were not a mistake. They were a tragedy – like those of the 10 children killed days before, as they queued outside a clinic. The Israeli military said, again, that it regretted any harm to civilians. And yet the bodies of children pile up. Children killed as they sheltered in former schools; children killed as they fled Israeli forces; children killed as they slept at home. Gaza's ministry of health says that more than 17,000 of the 58,000 Palestinians killed are children. Israel says that it seeks to minimise harm to civilians. The death toll belies that and Israeli intelligence sources told reporters last year that at times they were permitted to kill up to 20 civilians to take out even junior militants – with the preference being to attack targets when they were at home, because it was easier. Those six thirsty children should not have needed to queue for water due to what the UN calls a human-made drought. Human Rights Watch believes that thousands of Palestinians have died due to Israel's deliberate pattern of actions to deprive them of water, which it alleges amounts to the crime against humanity of extermination as well as acts of genocide. Those 10 hungry children should not have required nutritional supplements, but Israel continues to choke off aid and civilians are starving. Unrwa says that a tenth of the children screened in their clinics are malnourished. Tens of thousands of children have been seriously injured; many are amputees. As of February last year, around 17,000 had been identified as unaccompanied or separated from their families. The very young are among those least able to cope with hunger and disease. How many will survive this conflict? How many will be able to remain in Gaza? How many will be able to live anything like a normal life one day? How many will see only vengeance or despair ahead of them? Meanwhile, Israeli parents call for the hostage release and ceasefire deal that must end this conflict, and which Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted. Allies, including the EU and Britain, remain complicit in this war. They should ask themselves what they would do if their children faced for even one day what those in Gaza have endured for month after month. The children of Gaza have the same rights as children anywhere – to water, to food, to shelter, to education, to play, to hope, to joy. To life. Yet on Sunday, Israel killed Abdullah Yasser Ahmed, Badr al-Din Qarman, Siraj Khaled Ibrahim, Ibrahim Ashraf Abu Urayban, Karam Ashraf al-Ghussein and Lana Ashraf al-Ghussein. They were children. They were loved.
The Guardian
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The BBC has alienated everyone with its Gaza coverage. After this latest failure, who will be left to defend it?
For a genocide to occur, everything that people think is wrong has to first be turned on its head. There have been endless examples of this gruesome phenomenon in the past 21 months; Monday's report on the BBC's scrapped documentary about the plight of children in Gaza is just the latest instance. Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was a rare example of the unbearable experiences of Palestinians being properly investigated by Britain's public broadcaster. But within the media, this documentary has become a bigger scandal than the suffering of Palestinian children. When a researcher named David Collier, who has written widely in defence of Israel, discovered that the 13-year-old narrator of the film, Abdullah, was the son of the deputy agriculture minister in Hamas's government, all hell broke loose. After a deafening chorus of condemnation from pro-Israel lobby groups, British newspapers and the government, the documentary was taken off iPlayer. Monday's review states that the failure to disclose this connection violated the BBC's editorial guidelines, which stipulate that the corporation must 'provide full transparency to its audience'. But it concludes that Hoyo Films, the independent production company that made the film, did not intentionally mislead the BBC. It says Hoyo's view had been – rightly – that Abdullah's father had a 'civilian or technocratic' position within Hamas as opposed to a political or military role, and that it had simply 'made a mistake' in not informing the BBC. Here is the crucial point. All of Abdullah's words were scripted by the production company, since he was the narrator. The report '[does] not consider that anything in the narrator's scripted contribution to the programme breached the BBC's standards on due impartiality', and found no evidence that Abdullah's father or family influenced the script in any way. In other words, it was completely irrelevant who his father was. There was no substantial justification for taking this documentary off air. The immediate repercussions were that the young narrator and his family were inundated with abuse and harassment, with Abdullah declaring that the BBC was to blame if anything happened to him. Such fear is hardly baseless: thousands of children have been slaughtered by Israeli troops, including the 12-year-old Mohammed Saeed al-Bardawil, one of the only witnesses to Israel's killing of paramedics and first responders in March. In the past few days, Israeli forces have killed Palestinian children waiting to collect nutritional supplements and others waiting for water. The latter incident, they claimed, was a 'technical error'. Is this the explanation for how one of the world's most sophisticated militaries, with technology allowing it to know exactly who it is about to kill in its strikes, has plausibly killed tens of thousands of children since October 2023? Still, in Britain there is infinitely more scrutiny of this documentary than of these historic crimes. The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has even demanded to know why no one has been sacked at the BBC after its decision to air the documentary. In Nandy's upside-down world, a single detail in a documentary that exposes the killing of children should destroy careers. What about her colleagues who have supported the continued supply of military equipment for Israeli forces as they commit a livestreamed genocide? The media backlash against this documentary prompted the BBC to pause another documentary, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which investigated Israeli attempts to destroy Gaza's healthcare system (so far, this has killed at least 1,580 healthcare workers). The BBC pulled the film despite it having been approved at every level, with no factual objections to anything in it (the documentary was ultimately broadcast on Channel 4). According to Ben de Pear, the documentary's executive producer and a former Channel 4 news editor who wrote about the decision in the Observer, BBC script meetings were dominated by discussions about potential objections from Collier and the lobby group Camera. Collier's pro-Israel social media output is instructive: he has written that 'Jewish people have every reason to see the Palestinian flag as a flag of genocidal hate', and that 'the Palestinian identity, and especially the 'refugees' were developed ONLY as a weapon against Israel'. The furore has been used to justify the idea that the BBC is biased against Israel, yet the exact opposite is true. In a damning report, the Muslim Council of Britain's Centre for Media Monitoring found that the BBC gave Israeli deaths far more coverage in its articles when measured on a per-fatality basis – and using the overly conservative official Gaza death toll. The vast majority of emotive words, such as 'massacre', 'atrocities', 'slaughter', 'barbaric' and 'brutal', were reserved for Israeli victims. Israeli voices were heard far more often than those of Palestinians. This has angered many within the BBC, too, who want to report fairly on the conflict: more than 100 have signed a letter criticising the choice not to air Gaza: Doctors Under Attack. Meanwhile, the historic context for Israel's crimes against Palestinians has been ignored and erased. The numerous statements of genocidal and criminal intent by Israeli leaders have barely been acknowledged. Like other western media outlets, the BBC has stripped Palestinian lives of their worth, ignored and whitewashed Israeli crimes and repeatedly treated Israeli denials of atrocities as credible, even when those denials are repeatedly exposed as lies. Morality has been turned on its head. The BBC must be perceived as pro-Israel, despite the overwhelming evidence of its crimes. The scandals must be reserved for documentaries about Palestinians, rather than the horrors those Palestinians endure. But here lies the problem. Thanks not least to the work of Palestinian journalists, much of the world has already witnessed the atrocities that are being committed by the Israeli state. They can see the mismatch between what they know to be true and what media outlets such as the BBC report. The BBC has alienated its natural supporters and is detested by the right because it's a public broadcaster. Its journalistic failures in the Conservative years increasingly undermined faith in its editorial standards. Now, its failure to accurately report on the great crime of our age has only deepened that outrage. Who, then, will be left to defend this ailing beast? Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist
The National
09-07-2025
- General
- The National
‘Our children are smiling again': Make-A-Wish UAE grants wishes to young Gazans in Abu Dhabi
Palestinian children received presents from Make-A-Wish UAE at a special event in Emirates Humanitarian City, Abu Dhabi, on Tuesday. Wishes were granted to children from Gaza currently receiving treatment at the centre – a small gesture that brought smiles to young faces, even as their deepest hope remains for the war to end and to be reunited with their families. Balloons floated through the halls and ice creams were handed out as Make-A-Wish UAE delivered phones, tablets, gaming laptops and other items requested by the children. Amid the laughter and celebration, the wounds of war were never far away. Jameel Astal, 14, who lost the vision in one eye after shrapnel from a rocket struck his face, said his first call would be to his father, who is still in Gaza. 'I've always wanted an iPhone,' said Hassan Kuzat, another child at the event. 'Ever since I was in Gaza.' 'Don't drop it,' his mother Nariman Kuzat, 38, warned with a soft laugh. 'Our wish is for the war to end and to be reunited with our families. But this is the first time I've seen my son smile since we arrived,' she said. The family has been in the UAE for seven months. 'He's a happy child, but this war has robbed that from us. It has taken our lives,' she said. 'It's hard to smile with everything that's happened, but today – just look around you. Our children are smiling. And we are smiling with them.' Bringing some joy Moath Al Najar, 13, who lost his left arm in the war, also asked for an iPhone. His mother said he studies both inside the humanitarian city and virtually through exam portals in Gaza. He is in the sixth grade. 'Now I can continue my studies in Gaza and call my father who is still there,' he said. 'Bringing a smile to young children who have lost their arms and legs – and sometimes their families – is immeasurable. We can't thank the UAE and Make-A-Wish enough for this. It's what we all need: some happiness in the middle of all of this.' The wishes were part of Make-A-Wish UAE's fourth visit to Emirates Humanitarian City. 'We are here today to grant wishes for children from Gaza with critical illnesses. These children are currently receiving care at Emirates Humanitarian City, and today marks our fourth visit to grant their wishes. So far, we've granted more than 80 wishes here [since visits began four months ago], with 19 today alone,' said Noha El Shourbagy, chief operating officer of Make-A-Wish UAE. 'Of course, the ultimate wish for these children is for the war to end and to be reunited with their families. We can't change everything, but what we can do is bring them moments of hope, strength and joy during a very difficult time.' The gifts given included games and electronics such as PlayStations and tablets. 'Usually, we work within four categories of wishes: wish to have, wish to go, wish to be, and wish to meet. But because the children are residing inside the humanitarian city, most of the wishes fall under the category of 'wish to have',' Ms El Shourbagy said. Make-A-Wish UAE grants wishes to critically ill children from the ages of 3 to 18 across the UAE, Egypt, Yemen and Jordan, in partnership with hospitals in each country. 'We were established in 2010 and since then, we've granted around 7,900 wishes. Soon, we'll be celebrating our 8,000th wish,' she said. 'We've agreed with Emirates Humanitarian City to come monthly and grant around 20 wishes each visit. As long as these children are here, we will continue to show up for them.'
