[Both in South Africa and in Zimbabwe the…]

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Both in South Africa and in Zimbabwe the black youth are playing a central role in the revolt against the racist regimes.

Last week the Students Representative Council in Johannesburg black suburb of Soweto once again took their protest onto the streets.

Shouting slogans against the Bantu education system and against the continued detention of hundreds of their comrades, they organised several demonstrations of school students, who burned books and examination papers in the school yards.

The police replied rapidly with rubber bullets, tear gas and arrests. They have also imposed a daytime curiew.

Any black student in the streets and not at school risks arrest. Since there are in any • case far too few school places in Soweto this means effective daytime house arrest for anyone boycorng selloor oi uul тло- motorol no nast naving a school place.

In Capetown's black suburbs the struggle is if anything even more developed. There, the students have never returned to school since last i secondary school attendance of only ten percent.

The role of youth in Zimbabwe was also highlighted last week when 400 teenagers left their school and crossed the border to Botswana to join the liberation struggle.

Smith's claim that they шете abducted at gunpoint by terrorists was uncritically accepted by virtually all the capitalist press.

White faces went red when, in front of the world's TV cameras front af tha morlio TIl namarso the students calmly proved that they had gone of their own accord because they could no longer put up with the oppression of Smith's racist rule.

But this policy, opposed by the Labour Party's right wing, played into the hands of Peres, who, it now seems, has been given the support of Moshe Dayan and It now looks as if Rabin may be toppled as leader of the Israeli Labour Party. Elections for the post take place at the end of February, and there are three contenders: Rabin himself; Peres; and Abba Eban, Foreign Minister.

The General Election follows on May 17th. Whatever the outcome of all this in-fighting, one thing is clearly unchanged: none of the contenders and none of the parties have any intention of forging any dass unity between Israeli and Arab workers as the only measure capable of solving the Middle East's economic and political problems. facing increasing opposition from the workers, especially in the public services.

Electric power workers have refused to work the longer hours demanded by the new labour laws and the government has threatened to fine them by docking their wages.

CUBA-USA

CASTRO'S FULSOME WORDS troops in Angola (which, he says, are a 'stabilising factor') heralds the imminent resumption of full diplo diplomatic ties between the two countries after 16 years of American economic and diplomatic embargo. The last anomaly in Castro's otherwise complete line-up with the Soviet Union on 'peaceful co-existence' will then be removed.

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years boycotts and demonstra Teachers now report an average

Us Praise for President Carter and pedalling of the question of Cuban