Ms. Rachel Says She’s Willing to ‘Risk’ Career to ‘Stand Up’ for Children in Gaza

Ms Rachel has become a major advocate for children suffering in Gaza.

The children’s entertainer and educator, born Rachel Griffin Accurso, has been speaking up for the thousands of children whose lives have been impacted by Israel’s continuous military assault.

“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 earlier this week.

She described meeting Palestinian women whose kids have suffered from injuries, starvation, and more. “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.

She added, “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.”

Much of Accurso’s Instagram feed is about Palestinian children, and in many of her recent interviews, she discusses their suffering. According to The Guardian, she’s faced sizable pushback, including from a pro-Israel group that has encouraged the US attorney general to investigate her due to her messaging, and from the rightwing media and commentators.

When asked about the criticism, Accurso told WBUR, “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.”

She continued, “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.”

Beyond her messaging in the media, Accurso launched a fundraiser for children in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo last May—something she was also bullied for.

This April, after Trump terminated funding to World Food Program USA, she donated $1 million to the organization, which supplies meals to starving people in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and 11 other countries.

According to UNICEF, as of late May, more than 50,000 children have been killed or injured in Gaza.