Palestinian hunger strike

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non-teaching staff, and no return to work.

Demands are reported to be growing in the main Quebec trade union federation, the CSN, for a 24 hour general strike against Law 111 and the provincial government's clampdown.

A few of the striking teachers are in CSN unions, but most of them belong to a separate federation, the CEQ. There are also a few who belong to unions affiliated to the English-Canadz based Canadian Labour Congress.

Jean-Claude Parrot, president of the CLC Union of Postal Workers, has called for solidarity with the Quebec strikers. "If we can't get together to fight something like this, we don't deserve to be called organised labour". The CLC's top leaders clearly don't deserve to be called organised labour - president Dennis McDermott condemned Parrot's call as "irresponsible' The cuts and anti-strike measures are a response by the ruling separatist Parti Quebecois (PQ) to the proviacial goverment's buge defcis Eaglish Canada has a ter, feeble labour party liaked to the unions, the NDP. But the NDP has never had any base in Quebec. The Quebec unions have generally supported the PQ. Recently reported statements from CS.N leaders that 'the CSN must not become a political party must reflect their response to pressure from ibe rank and file for an dependent workers' = Quebec Our correspondent in Haifa reports on the hunger strike at Nafha jail in the Negev Prisoners bring a long list of complaints but the major problem is the lack of food. They stress the strike is not political but simply for self-preservation. They are demanding nothing beyond the based by age prison orescriveo oy the service and as agreed on at a meeting between prisoners and the Nafha administraton on July 1, 1981.

Prisoners are only receiving a portion of their ration, for example: under their agreement a meat portion should be 85 grams - in reality it is 50 grams of meat mixed with bread; the prisoners were supposed to recieve 80 kg of rice monthly - they get 48 kg. A similar story holds for fruit and vegetables.

They also complain of dirt in the food and of poor quality fruit and vegetables.

Prisoners have done everything they cart to resolve this situation short of their present action. They have complained both to the prison authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

They met Zvi Tamir from the central prisons administration and told him that unless their problem was resolved they would be 'pushed to the wall' Prisoners report that Tamir asked Nafha governor, Amran Wachnim, why the food was inadequate in the prisoners' presence.

Wachnim replied that 'if he received the correct amount oif supplies then the prisoners wouldn't have any complaints' The prisoners understand that their food is supplied from army stores and that it is quite possible that the correct amount is not being delivered rather than being due to pilfering within the jail. Prisoners have written to the head of the prisons service, Wertheimer. He has not replied.

After deciding to strike prisoners sent a letter to Wertheimer, January 21, telling him they would stop their protest the moment the correct amount of food is delivered.

There have been reports in the press that prisoners are refusing to eat cooked food. This is incorrect. Prisoners are refusing to eat any item they do not receive in correct quantity Thus their diet is only one-third of a loaf of bread per Prisoners are also concerned that there be no repeat of the experience of the July 1980 hunger strike when two of their number died under forced feeding. In the aftermath of that strike Shmuel Eitan,. the police controller, headed a commission which suggested some changes in the Nafhe règime. Prisoners point out that even though his report was made on August 24, 1980 only some of the recommendations were met: Eitan recommended that natural light should be let into the cells during the day. This has not been done.

Eitan recommended an exercise yard to be constructed. It was not.

He proposed an improvement in the food and that it be cooked Arab-style. This too has been ignored.

The desert jail is very cold and prisoners say they do not have enough clothes. They point out that they get less clothes than political prisoners in other jails, and less than the Jewish prisoners in Nafha itself. They do not have enough blankets, hot water or heating, like the Jewish prisoners do. They are forced to eat sitting on the ground. ‹ Since most of the prisoners are serving life or longterm sentences they allege that as the prison authorities have failed to break their spirit they are now trying to break them physically.

They stress that the strike. will only end when demands are met. capitalism and the Western bankers.

The involvement in these plans of British, American, French and West German imperialism adds to the confidence of the apartheid rulers.

Yet it is in the hands of the labour movement to take action to break this reactionary alliance.

This means forging links with the workers of Southern Africa; imposing trade union boycotts on arms and other goods to and from South Africa; and fighting to expose the links of Western - bankers and industrialists with their colleagues and agents in South Africa.