YouTube star attacked over Gaza fundraising

Ms Rachel, the children’s social media star, has come under fire after fundraising for children suffering in conflicts without including Israelis.

Rachel Griffin Accurso – who has two million followers on Instagram, 4.3 million on TikTok, and 9.7 million YouTube subscribers – said she had been criticised online after announcing that she was raising money for the UK-based Save the Children.

The viral content creator, known for her popular educational videos for toddlers, had offered to make personal videos for young children in return for donations to the charity.

“I’ll make videos for little ones, and all the money raised on my end will go to Save the Children’s emergency fund, which will go to children living in conflict in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine,” she said in a post on Monday. “Children should never experience the horrors of war.”

‘It really triggered me’

There was such an enthusiastic response that Ms Rachel had to pause sales of the personalised videos on the website Cameo. She raised more than £39,000 after selling 500 videos in just a few hours.

But she has angered some of her fans in Jewish communities, who felt she was taking sides in Israel’s war against Hamas.

“When I saw her fundraiser, it really triggered me,” Moran Gold, a Jewish mother and multilingual speech therapist who teaches young children, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“I think it’s lovely for an educator to try to bring light to children in Gaza or in Sudan or in Congo or in Ukraine – but I don’t understand why it’s a deliberate attempt by her and her team and Save the Children to never mention Israeli children.”

A commenter on Instagram wrote: “What about Israeli children Ms Rachel?”

Ms Rachel on Friday posted a video on social media in which she said she had been bullied. She said she had received comments accusing her of not caring about “all kids”, and responded that she cares “deeply for all children”.

“That is who I am,” she said. “I love my neighbour; I love every child. Palestinian children, Israeli ­children, children in the US – Muslim, Jewish, Christian children – all children, in every country. Not one is excluded.”