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We speak with Rachel Griffin Accurso, the educator known to millions around the world as Ms. Rachel, who has become a leading advocate for children in Gaza. Her YouTube channel for young children became wildly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic and today has more than 16 million subscribers. Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, Accurso has used her social media reach to speak out for Palestinian children facing hunger, disease, injury and death. She has been hailed as the heir to Mister Rogers, the legendary PBS children’s entertainer who also used his position in families’ living rooms to speak out on social issues.

“I see all children as precious and equal. My deep care for children doesn’t stop at any border,” Accurso tells Democracy Now! in a wide-ranging interview.

We also speak with Tareq Hailat, director of the Treatment Abroad Program for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, who helped connect Accurso with a 3-year-old girl from Gaza named Rahaf who lost both her legs in an Israeli airstrike. Accurso and Rahaf filmed a video, in which they sing a dance together.

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Hailat describes Accurso as “one of the most significant, if not the most significant, voices for Palestinian human rights” in the world. “Her advocacy has touched the hearts of people that never would have ever heard about Gaza or the Palestinian children, and that’s why her voice is so vital,” he says.

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, if you’ve spent any time around young children in recent years, our first guest may need no introduction. The Washington Post has called her the Mister Rogers of our era. Her YouTube channel has about, oh, 16 million subscribers and more than 10 billion views. In January, Netflix began licensing episodes. Her show is now the seventh most watched on Netflix in the first half of 2025.

We’re talking about Ms. Rachel, the children’s entertainer, educator and mother, who has become a worldwide sensation over the past six years, since she began posting videos for toddlers on YouTube. Much like Mister Rogers before her, Ms. Rachel has not shied away from speaking out about injustice, most notably about Gaza and the plight of Palestinian children. She recently wrote on Instagram:

“I want my taxes to help children

not kill them

I want my taxes to feed children

not starve them

I want to build a better world

not bomb it,” unquote.

In another Instagram post, Ms. Rachel said she would refuse to work with anyone who’s not spoken out against the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza. She’s also featured Palestinian children on her show.

So, now we’re going to go back to that video we just played of Ms. Rachel singing with Rahaf, a 3-year-old girl from Gaza who lost her legs in an Israeli airstrike.

MS. RACHEL: Let’s go back to sleep, Rahaf. We’re so tired.

[singing with Rahaf] See the bunnies sleeping ’til it’s nearly noon. Shall we wake them with a merry tune? They’re so still. Are they ill? Wake up soon.

Let’s pretend to sleep. [snoring]

Wake up, little bunnies!

[singing] Skip, little bunnies! Skip, skip, skip! Skip, little bunnies! Skip, skip, skip! Skip, little bunnies! Skip, skip, skip! Skip, skip, skip and stop!

Let’s hop again!

[singing] Hop, little bunnies! Hop, hop, hop! Hop, little bunnies! Hop, hop, hop! Hop, little bunnies! Hop, hop, hop! Hop, hop, hop and stop!

Yay! That was so much fun! Thank you!

AMY GOODMAN: That video of Ms. Rachel and Rahaf has been liked over a million times on Instagram.

Well, today, Ms. Rachel — that’s Rachel Griffin Accurso — joins us in our studio.

Welcome to Democracy Now! It’s an honor to have you here. Can you talk about who Rahaf is, this little girl, how you met her, and why the children of Palestine are so important to you?

RACHEL GRIFFIN ACCURSO: Thank you so much for having me, Amy. It’s an honor to speak with you.

Rahaf is an adorable, bright, loving 3-year-old girl. She came here through the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, PCRF, and she was evacuated with her mom, Israa, and they’re getting therapies and treatment at the hospital and living with a host family. And she’s absolutely delightful. She’s similar to 3-year-olds I’ve worked with, because she loves to pretend, and she’s just adorable and just taking in the world, and so sweet and innocent. And then she’s unlike 3-year-olds I’ve worked with across communities, because she has lost her legs. She’s away from her dad and her brothers right now. Her —

AMY GOODMAN: They’re in Gaza?

RACHEL GRIFFIN ACCURSO: Yeah. And so, yeah, just seeing her — and also, she’s having more of her human rights respected right now. So, she’s getting medical care, and she’s getting food, and she’s absolutely thriving. This girl is going to change the — she has changed the world, and she’s going to go so far. She just has that chance now, because she has her human rights respected.

And I saw videos of her in Gaza on the hospital floor. I saw videos of her looking extremely depressed. And one of the things her mom told me is “Thank you for helping her with her mental health,” because in Gaza, she just looked so distraught. And she’s 3 years old. And 3-year-olds are so, so delightful and happy. And she just — yeah, it was just really, really hard seeing her in Gaza, what — how she looked and the amputations. And she’s been through so much, and she’s 3.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: You rarely make overt political statements, but instead stress helping children, regardless of where they live and who they are. What made you decide to speak out more forcefully on the Palestinian children? And what’s been the reaction that you’ve gotten from your millions of followers?

RACHEL GRIFFIN ACCURSO: Well, as an early childhood educator, I know what children need to thrive. They need food, and food is being blocked from them. They need water, and water is being blocked. They need to be in school, and they’ve been out of school for two years because most of their schools have been bombed. They need medical care, and most of their hospitals have been bombed. So, I see precious children, and I see them just like I see my children, and I see all children as precious and equal. My deep care for children doesn’t stop at any border. And I saw these human rights violations, and I had to speak up, because I — it’s who I am. That’s who I am as Ms. Rachel. I love all kids.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And you’ve also spoken out on social media about Ariel and Kfir Bibas, Jewish children whom Hamas took hostage. And after the Bibases’ deaths were announced, you wrote in a post in February, quote, “My heart is with the Bibas family, the Jewish community, and people all over the world who are grieving. We need to protect children always.” But despite your speaking out that way, you’ve been labeled an antisemite by some, some organizations of — pro-Israeli organizations. Can you talk about that?

RACHEL GRIFFIN ACCURSO: Yeah. So, that is — that’s really painful, because, obviously, it’s not true, and I care so much about Jewish children and all children. And it is — it is difficult to receive criticism, but I know who I am. And that pain will never compare to the pain of not speaking out during a genocide and what would happen if I didn’t try to help.

And obviously, that pain is nothing compared to a mom in Gaza, who I put myself — I sat with a mom from Gaza. She is a teacher, like me, and I sat with her while her child doesn’t have legs. I sat with her while she FaceTimed her children, who she can’t eat anymore on FaceTime with them, because they’re so hungry. And I pictured my little boy there with my husband, and I pictured myself with my little girl having lost her legs and have that happen. And I will do anything for her. And I thought, “What would I want her to do for me if we were switched?” Because I was just born here, and she was born there. We’re not different. I saw her look at the pride on her son’s face when she saw her beautiful sons in Gaza, and she had the same pride that I have when I look at my wonderful Thomas. And she is so broken about what’s happened to Rahaf, but so supportive and sweet, and all she thinks about every day is getting back to her boys.

And I think, as a mom, the most excruciating thing in the world would be being separated from your children. And I think about Israeli moms who have children still held hostage. And I just — I think about mothers all the time, everywhere, whose children don’t have what they need, because if I couldn’t provide milk for my daughter, and it was miles away, and my baby — I have a 6-month-old, and she cries for milk, you know? And every time I feed her, I think, “Why is milk miles away and not — and not getting to them?” And my son said, “Mommy, could the kids of Gaza — could they take a car to get the milk to the babies?” And our kids are watching us. They’re taking in what us grown-ups are doing, and we’re not protecting children.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Rahaf’s mom is with her here. Why weren’t her father and brothers able to come?

RACHEL GRIFFIN ACCURSO: I believe Tareq can speak better to this, but I don’t think that men are often approved to come. I’m not sure. It’s — they weren’t approved.

AMY GOODMAN: And we are........

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