Ms Rachel’s meeting with amputee Gaza child wins praise and pro-Israel criticism

Internationally loved American children's educator Ms Rachel has released a new video showing her meeting with a double amputee child recently evacuated from war-torn Gaza, garnering widespread praise for his support for Palestinians affected by the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Rachel Griffin Accurso, known to millions of families around the world as Ms. Rachel, posted a video on Wednesday evening, where she met with three-year-old Rahaf from Gaza and shed light on Israel’s brutal bombardment of the enclave, as well as the impact of airstrikes and the blockade on children there.

In the video, she sings to Rahaf as the toddler dances, with some difficulty, due to her amputated leg.

In the caption, Ms Rachel explains that Rahaf’s young brothers and father remain in Gaza, which is under fierce daily bombardment from Israel.

She goes on to highlight the catastrophic situation in the enclave, which has been under a full siege for over two months.

"Israa (Rahaf’s mother) tells me that they no longer eat while video chatting with her sons. Her sons are so hungry and have so little food. They look about 5 and 7 years old. About my son’s age," she wrote.

She added that video-calling Rahaf’s siblings in Gaza was an emotional moment as she tried to imagine what it would be like to be a mother in a similar position to Israa’s.

"I think about how Israa and I are both teachers. We both love our children with all of our hearts. We want the same thing for them. But my son will have dinner tonight, a story, and snuggle with me, school in the morning… and hers won’t. If the situation were the other way around, what would I hope Israa would do for me?" she wrote.

Ms Rachel’s Gaza activism

Ms. Rachel has spoken out about conditions in Gaza before, including soaring cases of malnutrition among children in the enclave.

Earlier this month, she said: "When I saw pictures of Rahaf in Gaza on the hospital floor, I saw the devastating consequences of endless bombing and continuous violations of children’s human rights."

"We know treating children like they are being treated in Gaza isn’t right morally and ethically. We know it in our souls and hearts. It doesn’t align with the teachings of our religions…leaders who are silent and not helping these children, you should be ashamed. Your silence will be remembered," she continued.

Ms Rachel, who is an expert in early childhood development and has studied how malnutrition and trauma affect brain development, leading to lifelong consequences.

She has also shed light on Israel’s obstruction of medical aid to Gaza, condemned the blockade as "cruel", urging for a total ceasefire, and called for an end to the dehumanisation of Palestinian children,

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Ms Rachel (@msrachelforlittles)

Her most recent video has garnered international support from activists, journalists, and human rights campaigners, who have commended her decision to use her platform to raise awareness on the situation in Gaza to her 3 million followers on Instagram.

"Miss Rachel (sic) has realistically done more for children than any government body ever has. Stream her videos, follow her, boost her content, even if u don’t have kids…" one person wrote on X.

"Ms Rachel is the role model kids need, especially Palestinian children who have the love from someone with a huge platform who WON’T let the media and the government scare her into silence," another wrote.

US-based journalist Sana Saeed also hailed Ms Rachel’s activism.

"NYT asked, in all seriousness, Ms. Rachel if she was paid by Hamas and that woman went straight back to using her massive & influential platform to continue talking about the suffering and humanity of Palestinian kids," she said.

However, others shared an excerpt from a news interview, which contains a teacher at a London school of Jewish instruction stating that the video with Ms Rachel "has left a lot of Jewish parents quite isolated".

Last month, Ms Rachel was targeted by a pro-Israel organisation for drawing attention to the starvation of Palestinian children.

StopAntisemitism, a US-based pro-Israel group, accused her of "spreading Hamas propaganda" simply for expressing concern about the suffering of children in Gaza.

The right-wing organisation known for launching public smear campaigns against activists, artists, and academics critical of Israel has been widely criticised for conflating legitimate criticism of Israeli policies with "antisemitism".

The latest developments come as Israel has killed over 61,700 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023 and plunged the enclave into a deep humanitarian crisis. Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have determined that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.