YouTuber Ms Rachel on 'Antisemite of the Year' list after showing support for Gaza's bombed and starved children

The pro-Israel Stop Antisemitism group has named popular children’s YouTuber Ms Rachel among its ten "candidates" for the annual 'Antisemite of the Year' competition, in a list including individuals with no history of anti-Jewish prejudice.

Stop Antisemitism has relentlessly attacked Ms. Rachel, a child educator with over 17 million subscribers on YouTube, for her pro-Palestinian activism in response to Israel’s brutal war on Gaza.

Over the year, the pro-Israel group has accused Ms Rachel of "spreading Hamas propaganda" and being "funded by a foreign party to push anti-Israeli rhetoric" after she called for Gaza’s starving children to be helped, in one of her videos.

Ms Rachel also drew attention to Hind Rajab, the six-year-old Palestinian girl who was shot multiple times and subsequently killed by Israeli forces as she waited inside a car to be rescued. She also spotlighted the plight of Rahaf, a three-year-old Palestinian girl left disabled by Israel’s war on Gaza.

The YouTuber, whose full name is Rachel Accurso, has also pledged not to work with anyone who refuses to speak out on Gaza and has been named as Palestine Children's Relief Fund’s global ambassador.

Most recently, Ms Rachel sported a dress featuring drawings by Palestinian children at the Glamour awards, where she was named Woman of the Year.

The children’s content creator has been lauded by pro-Palestinian activists and Palestinians for emerging as one of the most prominent celebrities in the West to express support for the people of Gaza.

Also named among Stop Antisemitism’s "candidates" are pro-Palestine US actresses Marcia Cross and Cynthia Nixon, the latter having Jewish children.

Calla Walsh, an American activist who founded the US branch of Palestine Action, and pro-Palestinian TikTok influencer Guy Christensen, were also featured in the list.

The group also nominated conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson and left-wing media hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian, who work together on the popular online show 'The Young Turks' as "antisemites".

Carlson has publicly criticised US military support for Israel, and has emerged as part of a growing faction in the right-wing Republican circle to either directly or indirectly oppose the war in Gaza and Zionism.

The Fox News host, however, has been criticised for interviewing rapper Kanye West and far-right figure Nick Fuentes, who have both made multiple antisemitic comments or have denied the Holocaust.

Only two of Stop Antisemitism’s "nominees" have any track record of anti-Jewish bigotry. Stew Peters, an alt-right internet personality, and mixed-martial artist Bryce Mitchell have both denied or downplayed the Holocaust or peddled anti-Jewish conspiracy theories.

Stop Antisemitism, founded in 2018, says it aims to "combat" anti-Jewish sentiments, but has mostly done so by conflating legitimate criticism of Israel with the bigoted behaviour. 

To carry out its "work," the controversial advocacy group "receives" evidence of so-called antisemitic incidents, researches the individual and their employer before "exposing them" through a name-and-shame policy.

Stop Antisemitism has gone on to dox individuals with no history of anti-Jewish views, claiming they are expressing antisemitic behaviour, with complaints that such actions endanger individuals' privacy, employment status, or any other personal matter.

The controversial advocacy group has come under increased criticism since the outbreak of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, after labelling several individuals, including public figures, as "antisemites" for taking a stand against the assault that has killed well over 70,000 Palestinians.

Several individuals in the US have been fired from their jobs over the past two years after being subjected to a dogpiling of antisemitism accusations online, led by the Stop Antisemitism organisation, despite no record of anti-Jewish hatred.

Stop Antisemitism has been hosting the 'Antisemite of the Year' competition annually since 2019 and has named the likes of pro-Palestinian public figures, such as Muslim US congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, as "winners" in 2019 and 2023.