Rachel Accurso – "Ms Rachel" – children’s entertainer and educator whose YouTube videos have been watched by millions of families around the world, has become an outspoken advocate for children in Gaza (screenshot)

National treasure Ms Rachel has been badgered relentlessly for her advocacy of Palestinian children in Gaza. She has not backed down, and appears to be in for the long haul, bless her heart!

by Kathryn Shihadah

Beloved YouTube star Ms Rachel (aka Rachel Accurso) showed how simple it is to see Palestinians as human when she invited a little Gazan girl named Rahaf to be on her show. Rahaf had lost both legs in an Israeli airstrike, and had come to the US with her mother in an all-too-rare medical evacuation. She danced on prosthetic legs with Ms Rachel in a precious scene (video below).

The music-teacher-turned-internet-phenom had been quietly posting support for the starving children of Gaza, and at times, for the children of Israel since October 7th, 2023.

Eventually, fanatical pro-Israel organization StopAntisemitism put Ms Rachel in the “Antisemite of the Week” section of its website, later stating, “StopAntisemitism has not named Ms. Rachel as “Antisemite of the Week.” We have simply raised concerns about her recent uptick in content echoing Hamas-aligned language.”

According to StopAntisemitism’s accusation, Ms Rachel “posted nearly 50 times about the children of Gaza, most of which is filled with misinformation from Hamas*, and only 5 times about Israeli children…In the case of the Israeli children, she only posted due to widespread public backlash, never condemning Hamas and the Palestinians.”

[*NOTE: The examples of “misinformation” that StopAntisemitism provided were easily verifiable, factual statements; the organization provided no evidence that they were false.]

The group also sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, encouraging her to investigate whether Ms Rachel is receiving funding to promote Hamas’ agenda.

Antisemitism is not the problem

StopAntisemitism, and many staunchly pro-Israel groups like it, consistently portray criticism of Israel (the self-proclaimed “Jewish State) as antisemitism. In reality, criticism of Israel is more often than not opposition to Zionism.

Zionism is not a benign philosophy, but the supremacist ideology under which Israel dispossessed 750,000 Palestinian people, exiled them to Gaza and other locations, and today carries out occupation, apartheid, and genocide, and other illegal practices.

In the words of political scientist Dr. M. Reza Behnam, “The reality of Israel’s brutal siege of Gaza and the West Bank has also forced many Jews in the diaspora to recognize that Israel has not been their defender. To the contrary, the mixing of Judaism with Zionism—religion and bellicose nationalism—has fueled antisemitism.

Regarding the accusations leveled at her by fiercely pro-Israel groups, Ms Rachel said,

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 would risk everything, and I will risk my career over and over to stand up for them.

Below are just a few examples from social media in which Ms Rachel lived up to her words. It is safe to say that StopAntisemitism’s accusations have neither silenced her advocacy nor destroyed her career.