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Beirut is the centre of an international political and military conspiracy against the Palestinian people. Right-wing Lebanese forces continued, throughout the weekend, their merciless bombardment of the Iel-Al-Zaatar refugee camp and the Nabaa leftists' enclave in Eastern Beirut.

Backed by the imperialist owers, witn the connivance of the Soviet Union, the aim is to drowr in blood the very centre of the Palestinian resistance to Zionism.

This was why the Lebanese rightists had the fúll cooperation of the Syrian government in 'postponing' the ceasefire talks schedaled to start in Damascus.

With the agreement of the Syrian regime they intend to Ensume 'talks' only if they succeed i reducing the Palestinian and leftwing positions in East Beirut to rabbie.

The conspiracy, however, goes far wider than this. The Israeli navy is now regularly patrolling the sea the Southern Lebanon to prevent supplies and arms reaching supplied.

Syrian forces are ignoring under government instructions -the 'cease-fire' agreement and firing On Palestinian positions in wide areas of the Lebanon.

And at the same time, in the South of the country, Israel is promoting the so-called good fences' policy, trying to establish control in the frontier areas by permitting a trickle of food and medical supplies in to the population which has been driven into a desperate situation by the months of war.

At the same time the Arab League "mediators', and the Libyan and Egyptian representatives supposedly 'sympathetic' to the Palestinians, run in diplomatic circles in response to every latest, cynical "peace' proposal from the Syrian government or the rightwing cliques in Lebanon.

And the Palestinian people are held within this political trap by the nationalist leadership of the PLO, round Yasser Arafat, which pursues each new diplomatic cul-de-sac and the mirages of 'support from such governments as France, but refused to appeal over the heade of the Arah envernment to The strike wave that swept Poland on June 25th had nothing to do with «hooliganism"

It was a powerful class blow at the Stalinist bureaucracy of Gierek, in response to their arrogant attempt to hoist food prices.

Despite the police repression, and the lies and censorship of the Stalinist regime, reports filtering out of Poland show more and more clearly that it was an offensive of the working class that forced the government to back down.

In the Gdansk area not only the shipyards, but many other factories, in response to the price rises, were locking the gates and stopping work in protest.

It was the Gdansk shipyards whose demonstrations against price rises, and subsequent police violence, brought the downfall of Gromyo's government in 1971, and his replacement by Gierek.

And in Radom, scene of the sharpest clashes in June, reports in JAILED STRIKERS gans" , the workers formed a demonstration on the morning of June 25th, and marched to the Communist Party headquarters carrying red flags and singing the Internationale.

It was police attacks on the demonstration which led to the fighting, in which an estimated 17 workers were killed.

Trade union and labour movement organisations in Britain have a duty to protest in the strongest possible terms against the police violence of the Stalinist regime in The workers in Radom and Warsaw who have been singled out for vicious jail sentences must be freed and charges pending against any others must be dropped.

Despite their tactical retreat on the price rises, the Stalinist leadership in Poland have done nothing to alleviate the chronic food shortages that face ordinary workers.

Sugar for example, is now unobtainable in the state shops, and Rioters challenge S. African police in Soweto. Now upheavals have spread to key areas including Mafeking and Port Elizabeth.

The demands are becoming more general and they are increasingly taking the form of the call for a general strike.

The signs of panic among the ruling Nationalist party were clear' from the tone of editorials of the main Afrikaans newspapers which recognised a need for 'concessions' such as permitting home-ownership for blacks.

But all reports of the demonstrations make it seem that support for them is so widespread, especially among the black youth, that such concessions would only be dismissed as insulting.

It now becomes more urgent than ever for the fight to be extended in the Labour movement in Britain to force the Labour government to break all economic and diplomatic links with white racism in Southern Africa.

The rapidly growing fight of the oppressed black population of South Africa can be materially strengthened at this crucial time by

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