Ms Rachel says will match Macklemore’s $1 million donation to Palestinian aid
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Children’s educator Ms. Rachel has announced she is matching the donations of rapper Macklemore’s $1 million pledge from his earnings on Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour.
The donation will go to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund organization.
In an Instagram post, the popular YouTube star known for toddler learning videos wrote: “I’m an ambassador for @thepcrf & will be donating to them.”
She said she would match Macklemore’s donation and invited “every wealthy white celebrity to match it and speak out against the genocide in Gaza,” noting that “over 20,000 precious Palestinian children have been killed and children continue to be killed every day.”
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She emphasized a “moral obligation to use our privilege and platforms to protect children and human rights.”
The move comes amid fallout from Macklemore’s removal as a support act on Sheeran’s US tour dates.
The rapper had used his sets at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month to declare “Free Palestine” and perform his song “Hind’s Hall,” stating he wanted people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to know “we have not forgotten about them.”
Venues, including one owned by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, indicated they would not host shows with him remaining on the bill, leading the promoter to drop him.
Macklemore responded by pledging his entire $1 million net earnings from the tour to six organizations supporting Palestinians: the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, HEAL Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Medical Aid for Palestinians, UNRWA USA National Committee, and Anera.
“With everything that has happened over the last 48 hours, I want to bring the conversation back to where it belongs: to the Palestinian people who are still being killed, still living under military occupation, and still fighting for their freedom,” he wrote.
He invited Kraft to match the gift, adding: “Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting. A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth.”
Sheeran later clarified that the removal “was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine,” saying venues threatened to cancel shows and that he had spoken with them “at length all week to try and build a bridge.”
He described himself as “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine” and insisted: “I am not complicit. I have my personal views on the devastating conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care.”
