YouTube personality Ms. Rachel, known for her educational videos for toddlers, publicly criticized former President Barack Obama over his language in a recent statement regarding the war in Gaza.
The viral children’s content creator, whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, posted an open message on Instagram calling out what she described as Obama's “dehumanizing” language toward Palestinians.
In her post, Ms. Rachel addressed the former President directly: “Dear President Obama, I saw in your statement you said ‘Israeli families’ & ‘the people of Gaza.’ Palestinians have families, too. This kind of language contributes to dehumanization. Dehumanization is part of what cause so many to stay silent as 20,000 children were killed in this genocide. I’ve sat with wonderful Palestinian families from Gaza. They look at their children just like ours — with all the love & hope in the world. Love, Ms Rachel.”
In the caption accompanying her message, she expressed disappointment in Obama's stance:
“I’ve always looked up to you, @barackobama. I don’t understand why so many of these statements don’t seem to view Palestinians as equal. All people and all children are equal and deserve the same human rights.”
Ms. Rachel, who has built a massive following online for her inclusive early learning content, has recently emerged as one of the more unexpected public figures speaking out about Gaza.
Obama has not yet publicly responded to Ms. Rachel’s remarks, nor to other, related critiques of his wording from people including Palestinian-American human rights attorney Noura Erakat ["The 'people’ of Gaza are Palestinians. They have survived a genocide and an ongoing attempt to eliminate them for over a century"] and Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha ["People of Gaza? No families in Gaza?...No Palestinian families who israel wiped out? Are you even watching any news?"]