Children's YouTube star Ms. Rachel faced renewed scrutiny on Sunday after a 2025 video of her calling Palestinian photojournalist, Motaz Azaiza, her "friend," resurfaced, days after Azaiza admitted he deliberately withheld footage of Israeli hostages being beaten by a crowd in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.
asserted
hostages → face → Oct.
The short video appears to show Ms. Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, introducing Azaiza to her young audience while teaching the letter "M."
"Hi, yes, it’s M, for my friend, Motaz.
asserted
it → appear → friend
Bye!" Accurso said.
asserted
Accurso → say → ?
The video was originally shared on Instagram and later removed, according to reporting from July 2025.
uncertain
video → share → July
Azaiza, who amassed millions of social media followers documenting the war in Gaza, appeared briefly in the clip and greeted Ms. Rachel.
asserted
who → amass → Rachel
The video also took on new significance after Azaiza described earlier this month what he witnessed during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack in an extensive interview with journalist Ahmed al-Biqawi on the Arabic-language "Taqarrab" podcast.
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he → take → podcast
Azaiza said he followed a vehicle carrying Israeli captives and filmed as members of a crowd assaulted them.
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members → say → them
Azaiza said he didn't publish the video, however, as he feared it could put the Palestinians involved at risk.
uncertain
it → say → risk
"I saw the vehicle of the Al-Qassam Brigades, and there were Israeli captives there," Azaiza said.
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Azaiza → see → Brigades
"People got out, watched, beat them, hit them, and I followed them and filmed.
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I → get → them
But I did not publish those videos.
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I → publish → videos
Because I did not want to ruin the lives of the people who were filmed."
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who → want → people
Azaiza said he withheld the footage because he believed Israeli authorities could use it to identify the Palestinians appearing in the videos.
uncertain
authorities → say → videos
"I understood that Israel would use those videos to identify every person who was there and eliminate them," Azaiza said.
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Azaiza → understand → them
"I did not want to be responsible, even indirectly, for the deaths of those people in exchange for a few likes and views online."
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I → want → likes
Azaiza also criticized Hamas and described the restrictions faced by journalists working inside Gaza.
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Azaiza → criticize → Gaza
He said photographers learned to lower their cameras when Palestinians criticized Hamas because showing such dissent could lead to retaliation.
uncertain
showing → say → retaliation
Despite describing himself as a supporter of armed Palestinian resistance, Azaiza said Hamas' actions had failed to protect Palestinians living in Gaza.
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actions → describe → Gaza
"I support armed resistance, but one that brings results, or at least gives me the feeling that my life is valuable in the eyes of the resistance," Azaiza said.
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Azaiza → support → resistance
You are making people hate the resistance with your own hands."
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people → make → hands
Azaiza's profile rose dramatically after the war began.
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war → rise → ?
Time named him to its 2024 list of the world's 100 most influential people for his photographs documenting Gaza.
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Time → name → Gaza
Rabbi Yaakov Menken, executive vice president of the Coalition for Jewish Values, told Fox News Digital that Azaiza’s disclosure raised questions about his journalistic judgment and his decision to withhold the footage.
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disclosure → tell → footage
"After years spent claiming to share what was happening in Gaza ‘unfiltered,’ Azaiza revealed that he hid footage — not, per journalistic norms, to protect victims from further harm, but because he didn't want Israel to arrest the perpetrators.
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Israel → spend → perpetrators
Innocent civilians had been kidnapped, already sexually abused, and his concern was with the people that beat them and rejoiced at Hamas's crimes.
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that → kidnap → crimes
That speaks volumes about his journalism and his moral character," Menken said.
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Menken → speak → journalism
Accurso, meanwhile, has become increasingly outspoken about Gaza.
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Accurso → become → Gaza
Last week, she accused celebrities and other public figures who had remained silent about Palestinian children of applying a racial double standard.
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who → accuse → standard
"They probably would say something if these kids were White and from a different place," Accurso said.
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Accurso → say → place
"Please stop being racist and risk something."
Elizabeth Barcohana, the California Republican Party’s Jewish engagement chair, told Fox News Digital that she believed Accurso’s Gaza advocacy was spreading misleading information to her large audience.
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advocacy → stop → audience
"Ms. Rachel is essentially sanitizing terrorism with false and misleading information to emotionally manipulate her very impressionable following and those around her in her industry," Barcohana said.
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Barcohana → sanitize → industry
Fox News Digital reached out to Ms. Rachel for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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Digital → reach → response
The Aporia
