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# The socialist who schooled the royal commission
- URL: https://redflag.org.au/the-socialist-who-schooled-the-royal-commission/
- Published: 2026-07-14T07:17:26.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-15T02:00:55.000Z
- Author: Red Flag Staff
- Tags: Red Flag newsletter, #newsletter, Genocide in Palestine 2023-26

The university block of Australia’s Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion is designed to provide a platform for pro-Israel students to denounce the Palestine solidarity movement on Australian university campuses. 

So lawyers at the commission thought they were going to “gotcha” Yasmine Johnson, a Jewish student, socialist and one of the national coordinators of Students for Palestine. But by remaining steadfast, she made them look foolish. Her written testimony noted:

> My family history is part of what has compelled me to join and stay involved with the fight for Palestine, alongside a general progressive belief in a world without genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing. I’m appalled by the idea that the atrocities of the Holocaust—the systematic annihilation of Jewish lives which left my grandmother, like so many others, without remaining family—justify any of Israel’s current actions. The legacy of the historic injustices perpetrated against Jews, the mark of which has been left on my family, has strengthened my resolve to oppose genocide wherever it takes place. 

### Watch Yasmine being cross-examined

### Red Flag’s coverage of the royal commission and more

[The day the royal commission got schooled by a Palestine solidarity activistLawyers thought they were going to “gotcha” student activist Yasmine Johnson. But by remaining steadfast, she made them look foolish.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/3f/203fcc0d-6556-4e5f-bb3b-59a4389fa85e/content/images/icon/R_logo_v3-9e827ddf-5f5f-405d-a49d-302b5dd63bb8.svg)Red FlagSarah Garnham![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/3f/203fcc0d-6556-4e5f-bb3b-59a4389fa85e/content/images/thumbnail/Yasmine-1-f36ba508-0efd-4bb4-a74e-458eb0ee593d.png)](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-day-the-royal-commission-got-schooled-by-a-palestine-activist/)

[The first half day of the royal commission in Melbourne was risibleThe royal commission’s witnesses are unreliable and prejudiced, and the commissioner seems to accept that supporting a religious/ethno-supremacist apartheid state is essential to Jewish identity.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/3f/203fcc0d-6556-4e5f-bb3b-59a4389fa85e/content/images/icon/R_logo_v3-18592155-5457-427d-8460-c40a9cf4468c.svg)Red FlagBen Hillier![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/3f/203fcc0d-6556-4e5f-bb3b-59a4389fa85e/content/images/thumbnail/Melbourne-protest-7cc8d48f-4261-414c-b514-326e127f6122.png)](https://redflag.org.au/article/the-first-half-day-of-the-royal-commission-in-melbourne-was-risible/)

[A Jewish socialist defends the Palestine movement at the royal commissionThis article by Yasmine Johnson, a Jewish student, socialist and one of the national coordinators of Students for Palestine, is based on her testimony at the royal commission.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/3f/203fcc0d-6556-4e5f-bb3b-59a4389fa85e/content/images/icon/R_logo_v3-5c63320d-8740-4f40-8994-0fbd1803d366.svg)Red FlagYasmine Johnson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/3f/203fcc0d-6556-4e5f-bb3b-59a4389fa85e/content/images/thumbnail/Yasmine-806a2cf6-92a5-44cc-9c0e-586ff1fb9f2f.png)](https://redflag.org.au/article/a-jewish-socialist-defends-the-palestine-movement-at-the-royal-commission/)

[Responding to the lies against the student Palestine solidarity movementTwo central lies have been leveled against the pro-Palestine student movement. Jasmine Duff refutes them.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/3f/203fcc0d-6556-4e5f-bb3b-59a4389fa85e/content/images/icon/R_logo_v3-d1de56cf-236e-432c-9fd6-9f2729791103.svg)Red FlagJasmine Duff![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/3f/203fcc0d-6556-4e5f-bb3b-59a4389fa85e/content/images/thumbnail/RMIT-4b41500b-0e33-408c-9d0e-d420d0d6ba95.png)](https://redflag.org.au/article/responding-to-the-lies-against-the-student-palestine-solidarity-movement/)

[Israel’s long war on Gaza: from 1948 until todayWhile Israel has greatly accelerated its efforts to ethnically cleanse Gaza since 7 October 2023, the settler-colonial state has long desired the expulsion of all Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/3f/203fcc0d-6556-4e5f-bb3b-59a4389fa85e/content/images/icon/R_logo_v3-3f23a6d9-5f0e-41be-ab42-4040a9c48b4e.svg)Red FlagNick Everett![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/3f/203fcc0d-6556-4e5f-bb3b-59a4389fa85e/content/images/thumbnail/Gaza-50587468-4a0e-44e4-ac58-da9519334e44.png)](https://redflag.org.au/article/israels-long-war-on-gaza-from-1948-until-today/)

### People’s Inquiry into Campus Free Speech on Palestine

The recently published final report (download below) of the [People’s Inquiry into Campus Free Speech on Palestine](https://www.palestineinquiry.com/?ref=redflag.org.au) provides extensive evidence for what Palestine solidarity activists have argued for nearly three years: Australian universities have systematically suppressed criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and sought to silence opposition to their own complicity in the genocide.

[Final Report - Erasure in the AcademyPeople’s Inquiry into Campus Free Speech on PalestineFinal Report - Erasure in the Academy.pdf4 MBdownload-circle](https://redflag.org.au/content/files/2026/07/Final-Report---Erasure-in-the-Academy.pdf "Download")

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/3f/203fcc0d-6556-4e5f-bb3b-59a4389fa85e/content/images/2026/07/en-1000-genocide.jpg)

CREDIT: Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

### EU, UN and World Bank joint report on the destruction in Gaza

> \[T\]he escalation of conflict in the Gaza Strip has led to an unprecedented loss of life and a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Over two years of conflict has resulted in more than 71,000 Palestinian fatalities and over 171,000 injured, and many are missing under the rubble. The conflict has led to widespread displacement, extensive damage to social, physical, and productive infrastructure, and plunged the strip into a deep humanitarian crisis ... 

> Over 1.9 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been internally displaced to locations inside of the Gaza Strip, many of them multiple times over; and over 1.2 million people—almost 60 percent of Gaza Strip’s population—have lost their homes. Extensive damage to water, sanitation, and waste management infrastructure, a lack of critical resources to operate and maintain the remaining infrastructure, and poor hygiene conditions and food insecurity have left the entire population of the Gaza Strip at risk of disease outbreaks.

—From the Gaza Strip rapid damage and needs assessment, April 2026

[Gaza Strip rapid damage and needs assessmentEuropean Union, United Nations and World Bank joint reportGaza strip rapid damage and needs assessment.pdf4 MBdownload-circle](https://redflag.org.au/content/files/2026/07/Gaza-strip-rapid-damage-and-needs-assessment.pdf "Download")