On Tuesday, StopAntisemitism, a US-based pro-Israel lobby group under the garb of an antisemitism watchdog has called on Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch an investigation into Ms Rachel, a popular YouTuber whose videos on speech development and early childhood education are watched by millions worldwide.
The group, notorious for equating Palestinian solidarity with antisemitism, protested a now-deleted Instagram story from Ms Rachel, which read, "Every child deserves to be safe," alongside images of wounded Palestinian children, as reported by New York Post. The group framed her post as "Hamas propaganda" and urged Bondi to consider whether Ms Rachel's content violated laws prohibiting the promotion of material from "foreign terrorist organisations," despite her post not mentioning any political groups.
Part of a concerning pattern
Over recent years, there has been a disturbing rise in censorship and intimidation against individuals, artists, and public figures who voice support for Palestine. In December 2023, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution declaring anti-Zionism as antisemitism. According to Forbes, the resolution condemned the slogan "From the river to the sea" and firmly maintained that "anti-Zionism is antisemitism."
This suppression has extended into academic institutions. As per AP News, Yale Law School recently terminated Helyeh Doutaghi, an Iranian legal scholar, following an investigation into alleged ties with the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, a group labeled by the US and Canada as supporting a terrorist organisation.
Student activists have also faced severe repercussions. In March, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student at Columbia University, was arrested by US immigration agents for his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests on campus, reported Reuters. Despite holding a permanent residency green card and being married to a US citizen, Khalil faces deportation under accusations of supporting Hamas, which his lawyers dispute as retaliation for his activism.
The legislative landscape has further tightened. According to The Guardian, 41 new anti-protest bills were introduced in 2025 alone across 22 states. These bills propose severe penalties and are seen as threats to First Amendment rights, particularly targeting climate activists, anti-war demonstrators, and pro-Palestinian college protests.
The attack on Ms Rachel is part of this pattern. Her content, gentle singalongs about colours and numbers, has nothing to do with politics. Yet her personal post was enough to spark a backlash so intense that it risked tarnishing her professional career. Right-wing media outlets leapt to amplify the smear, weaponising the language of national security to punish a woman for publicly mourning Palestinian children.
StopAntisemitism has long targetted pro-Palestinian voices, labelling criticism of Israeli policies as hate speech while remaining conspicuously silent on actual hate crimes against Arabs and Muslims. As reported by The Washington Post, it falsely accused Dani Marzouca of supporting Hamas last year, costing them their job. Yet, the group stayed silent after the murder of Palestinian-American Wadea Al-Fayoume, revealing its selective outrage and agenda to smear Palestinian solidarity as antisemitism.
As of now, AG Bondi's office has not responded publicly, but even the consideration of a probe sets a dangerous precedent - one where basic expressions of humanity are met with state scrutiny.
Since October 2023, Al Jazeera reports that approximately 46,707 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military operation, the majority of them women and children. Hospitals have been bombed, journalists murdered, and entire families wiped out in the violence. Yet, within the United States, the backlash is not directed at those responsible for the violence, but at those who dare to speak out against it.
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