Ms Rachel is a children’s entertainer who has drawn significant criticism for speaking out on behalf of Palestinian children. While the pressure she’s faced has been immense, she’s remained steadfast, and now she’s joined the boycott of the New York Times (NYT):
Ms Rachel — Integrity
Writing for the Canary, Maryam Jameela reported the following on Ms Rachel earlier this year:
Ms Rachel, an American children’s entertainer, is facing attacks from pro-Israel groups. Otherwise known as Rachel Accurso, the performer has used her massive following to call for the famine and murder of Palestinian children to be stopped. Incredibly, this has led a number of Zionist lobbyists and mainstream media outlets to question if Ms Rachel is funded by Hamas.
At the time, Ms Rachel said:
When it’s controversial to advocate for children that have been killed in the thousands, are blocked from food and medical care, and have become the largest cohort of amputees in modern history, we have lost our way.
It’s my unwavering belief that children aren’t less valuable or less equal because of where they were born, the color of their skin, or the religion they practice.
In a follow-up message to her NYT boycott post, Ms Rachel highlighted why people are taking action:
In October, Middle East Eye reported that 150 NYT contributors had pledged not to write for the outlet until it ends its bias against Palestinians. Their letter stated:
Until The New York Times takes accountability for its biased coverage and commits to truthfully and ethically reporting on the US-Israeli war on Gaza, any putative ‘challenge’ to the newsroom or the editorial board in the form of a first-person essay is, in effect, permission to continue this malpractice
Only by withholding our labor can we mount an effective challenge to the hegemonic authority that the Times has long used to launder the US and Israel’s lies
As of this week, Mondoweiss say the number of signatories is more like 500.
Everybody, boycott the NYT for complicity with Apartheid Israel in #GazaGenocide and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.https://t.co/ZOx7CHHUCj
— Milo Somers (@milo_somers) November 9, 2025
The letter detailed the many examples of shoddy journalism perpetrated by the NYT, including:
The writers also called on The New York Times to retract a December 2023 article titled “Screams Without Words,” which alleged that Palestinians who took part in the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack committed sexual assault against Israeli women.
That article relied largely on the testimony of an unnamed Israeli special forces paramedic. A spokesperson for the kibbutz where the article claimed the assaults took place later denied the allegations made by The New York Times.
Anat Schwartz, one of the report’s authors, was later investigated by the paper after it emerged that she had liked a social media post calling for Gaza to be turned into a “slaughterhouse”.
Prior to the article, family members of the girls killed during the attack, who were the alleged victims of the sexual assault, gave several interviews that appeared to contradict the claims made in the story. However, none of these interviews were used in the New York Times piece.
History repeats itself
Like much of the British media, the NYT helped sell the lies which led to the Iraq War. They apologised for that, but clearly they haven’t learned.
Solidarity with the Palestinians and with all those who are boycotting the NYT.
Featured image via USA Today
