YouTube Star Ms. Rachel Calls out 'The New York Times' Gaza Coverage

YouTube star and teacher Ms. Rachel is calling out The New York Times for the outlet's coverage of Palestine. The educator announced that she was canceling her subscription to the NYT on Nov. 8, 2025, due to their coverage.

The Israel-Gaza War began on Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1,200 civilians. They also took hundreds of hostages, and Israel reacted by bombing civilians in Palestine. According to PBS News, at least 69,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, and the country is being accused of genocide, per Amnesty International.

Ms. Rachel announced on Instagram that she was canceling her subscription to the NYT over its coverage.

Ms. Rachel has more than four million followers on Instagram, and she let them know what she thought about the NYT's coverage of Palestine.

According to The Intercept, the NYT issued a memo that instructed reporters covering the Israel-Gaza War to restrict the use of the terms "ethnic cleansing” and "genocide."

NYT also allegedly instructed journalists not to use the phrase "occupied territory" when talking about Palestinian land or "refugee camps." The memo was written by the outlet's editors, Susan Wessling and Philip Pan.

Ms. Rachel shared her post on Instagram with the caption, "#newyorktimes."

"I am unsubscribing from The New York Times because of its biased and dehumanizing coverage of Palestinians and Palestine, and its failure to uphold journalistic integrity," she wrote.

In another post, Ms. Rachel wrote, "A leaked internal memo from The New York Times revealed that editors instructed journalists covering Gaza to avoid or strictly limit certain words and phrases."

"Words like 'slaughter,' 'massacre,' and 'carnage' were among those flagged," she continued. "The document also advised journalists to avoid terms such as 'genocide,' 'ethnic cleansing,' 'occupied territory,' and 'Palestine,' except in narrow legal or historical contexts."

"Words matter," she wrote. "It discouraged describing Gaza's 'refugee camps' as such, suggesting they be referred to as neighborhoods instead. Last month, you condemned 'blocking food and water to children,' she added. "There are some who argue that accusing Israel of doing this — as well as citing certain casualty numbers — amounts to 'misinformation.' How would you respond?"

"I take my work with children and the way I utilize my platform very seriously," she continued. "That is why I turn to the expertise of entities like the United Nations, as well as respected human rights organizations, including Israeli organizations and research and reporting from outlets like Haaretz and New York Times."

Ms. Rachel also called out people who claim that defending Palestine means you are antisemitic, calling it "wrong" and "absurd."

After she was called "antisemitic" for her views, Ms. Rachel also noted that wanting kids to have food and not wanting kids to be killed is normal, while "Accusing people of being antisemitic or paid by Hamas because they want these basic human rights for kids (and people!)" is not normal.

"The killing and weapons and hate needs to stop," she added. "We have to see each others humanity. We have to see every child as our own or we will cause the world to be less safe and beautiful for all of them."