The Iranian-Iragi agreement called for the establishment of cordial relations between the two regimes, on The real merga the basis that the Iragis would concode to the Shah all his territorial demands aiong the Shatt-Al-Arab waterway in the south. Furthermore, both regimes committed themselves to scaling off their borders to all so-called subversive activities.
The political significance of these two accords, however, goes much deeper than their stated content What is al stake is nothing less than a concerted drive to crush two related revolutionary factors in the Middle Eastthe struggle of the Kurds for self-determination in Northern Irag, and that of the Arab peopie in Dhofar against their local ruling class. A Turther by-product of the accords has aiready involved the repression or Iranian opposition groups based in Iraq.
In Dholar. the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman is waging a heroic strugele against the combined forces of British imperialism, the Omani ruling class, and over 11,000 Iranian troops sent over by the Shah to eliminate subversion in the strategic area of the Gulf. Until now the biggest political obstacle to this Iranian intervention in Dhofar has been the Egyptian and Jordaman regimes helped to set up the deal This new ***** BIRMINGHAM RALLY-'Against the accords were announced at a conference of the Organisation of Petroleun Exporting Countries (OPEC) and that by the counter-revolutionary agreement between the Irani and Iraqi regimes stage of Arab-Iranian collaboration most certainly opens up the possibili ty of a more vigorous prosection of the war against the Dhofari revolution.
The most immediate consequence of these accords, however, is its shortterin repercussions on the progress of the Kurdish revolution. The day following the Algiers conference, the Iranian regime completely sealed off its northern borders with Iraq, blocking the passage of all ammunition and medical supplies to the liberated territories of Kurdistan. At the same time, a massive Iraqi attack was launched against the besieged Kurdish militia (the Pesh Merga).
This pincer like mihtary operation doubtedly caused very heavy losses call into question most of the major achuevements of the Kurdish revoltnon curing the fast year of fighting. The situation in Northern Irag, however, has not yet worked itself out fully.
Red Weekly will be presenting a more complete balance sheet of the Kurdish struggle in a future issue:
A STRUGGLE that started in the Farm Workers Union of America, which orgunises the oppressed agricultural workers, mostly Chicanos (Mexican-Americans), immigrants and other minority rationalities, is asking for help from the British labour movement.
pean importer of grapes picked by scab labour, and the UFW is appealing for these to be boycotted. Due to the success of the boycott campaign in the US, larger quantities are now on the British market. If sales here can be stopped, the UFW will be well on the way to victory.
The grapes are being picked by members of the Teamsters Union. which signed contructs in 1973 with the growers without having a single member in the fields. These contracts eliminated some of the major benefits won by the UFW, such as the Unioncontrolled hiring hall, health and safety precautions, and job security. When 985 of the farm workers walked out on strike, the Teamsters sent in hired thugs to intimidate and beat up their picket lines.
The racist police and courts ig nored the violence of the scabs, but of the iraqi and Trinian armies has un arrested UFW pickets under court to the Kurdish forces, and cannot but have been made to date. When two injunctions -almost 10,000 arrests pickets were killed the CFW pulled its members out of the grape growing areas, and concentrated on a boycoct campaign in the cities. TEAMSTERS PLOY Then last year the Teamsters offened in negotiate with the UFW 1E the boycott was called off, and seemed to he hacking down on their attempt to oust the UFW. But this was sumply a ploy to pet the grupes on grape fields of southern California has opened a new front here. The United Britain is the second biggest EuroScott. the market. Elaine Elinson, Ешореат co-ordinator of the UFW, explained to Red Weekly that this was part of the reason why the grapes had got through to British shops. During: previous boycott campaiga in 1969, the dockers at Tilbury refused to unload the scab grapes, hut although the Transport and General Workers Union leadership has again expressed support for the UFW, it has used agreements with the employers as a reason for not ordering its members to refuse to unload the grapes. The T&G have promised, however, that next year there will be a total boy write.
and workers of minority nationalities have few rights, and have been kept down by the redneck police and the grower-dominated courts. There is little hope of organising effective workers self-defence in such an area.
However in the cities the Ufw has found an intense fund of support from the student movement, the labour movement, and amongt progress ive people in the churches. And by taking their members into the cities they have helped to develop them as mass leaders and organisers. The most successtul boycott campaign, in Boston, was organised by a young member who could neither read or PACIFISM Whatever the effectiveness of the present non-violent lactics of the UFW, it is difficult to see the pacitism of its leader, Cesar Chavez, winning out in the long struggle against the US multi-million doll agricultural business. The latter is essential if the Union is to organise all of the 2.6 million US farm workers. But at the moment the lack of support from other trade unionists is cocouraging desperate tactics like asking the im migration authorities lo act against illegal immigrants being employed by the growers, which can ouly div Ide tarm workers.
However the main problem in Britain now is to support the boy cott. All US grapes sold here are picked by scab labour. They are calJed Red Emperor, and are large.
oval in shape and dark red in colour.
Cesar Chavez has sid: Europe is the key it you boycott seab grapes this Spring and Summer, we will have contracts in the Fall'. "Raise the question in your trade union branch and student union, and drive the scab grapes off the market. For further information contact Red Weekly In the forthcoming Portuguese elect ions, the International Communist League, Portuguese sympathising org anisation of the Fourth International will be presenting more than 100 candidates on an anti-capitalist progr But the LCI is a very small organisation, with very big responsibilities in the context of Portugal today. It needs every form of assistance it can get. Red Weekly is therefore opening
******* Despite the seeming inaction of the burcaucracy, Elaine stresses the gratitude of the UFW for the help and soudanty of the TaG, murad mits that her Union is at present in a serious position, Their meagre sinke tund and the 1.5 million dollars gifted by the AFLACIO trade union federation have almost gone In 1970, the Union had 60 contracts with the prowers, coveting 40,000 workers, but now they are down to ten contructs and many of their members have been forced to go to work in Teamster-controlled fields She defends the tactic of the boycott, rather than confronting the Teamsters in the fields. Southern CalHornia is in many ways similar to the ('S deep south immigrant workers Manifesto Eleitoral da LIGA