We spoke to Palestine Action Group leader and socialist Josh Lees about the renewed genocide in Gaza and the disgraceful antisemitism hoax in NSW which has been used to repress pro-Palestine activism.

In a true-crime scandal for the ages, a criminal hoax in NSW was falsely reported as an antisemitic terror plot intended to cause mass casualties. Both the state and federal Labor governments knowingly lied to the public, using the hoax to ram through draconian anti-protest laws in NSW.

The NSW antisemitism hoax is just one example of the unscrupulous campaign against pro-Palestine activism worldwide.

Further reading

Josh Lees on "The great antisemitism con job" for Red Flag

On Josh Lees' constitutional challenge to NSW anti-protest laws in The Guardian

On the People's Inquiry into Campus Free Speech on Palestine in Red Flag

We sat down with trans activist April Holcombe to talk about the unrelenting war being waged against trans people. April is a socialist train driver based in Sydney and the co-convener of Community Action for Rainbow Rights. She is the author of many articles for Red Flag newspaper and the Marxist Left Review.

April describes what is happening to trans people as "political sadism". She unpacks why right-wingers are so obsessed with policing gender, why socialists say gender is socially constructed, and how we can best fight back against these heinous attacks.

Further Reading:

April Holcombe's fantastic article in the Marxist Left Review: "The Freedom to Be": Marxism, gender oppression and the struggle for trans liberation

"Trump's war on woke is a war on all the working class" - by Sarah Garnham in Red Flag

Our guest Rick Kuhn explains the results of the German election. Rick is a socialist economist and political analyst. He is the author of a biography of Marxist economist Henryk Grossman, for which he won the Deutscher Prize.

In understanding the German election, the key word is "polarisation". The fascist AfD have received their best vote yet, of over 20%. Meanwhile the anti-racist left party, Die Linke, tapped into a movement of young antifascists and picked up 9%. The centre ruling coalition has collapsed after years of economic stagnation and migrant-bashing, and has been replaced by the conservative Christian Democrats who court the far-right.

Further reading:

• "Far right surges, but left surprises, in German elections" by Sean Larson in Red Flag
• Buy Rick Kuhn's book: Labor's Conflict
• Rick Kuhn on economic crisis: https://marxistleftreview.org/articles/economic-crises-are-unavoidable-under-capitalism/