against same time, the stated desire of the Socialist goveducation cuts ernment that "80% of the pupils should reach the baccalauréat [the French patch noted that this is "the first extradition of its type since 1987, when the European Convention on Terrorism was signed." The danger therefore exists that this extradition will open the way for others.
Ellis, a 37-year old Irish republican who has served nearly nine years in prison, is accused of complicity in explosions in Britain that took place, in fact, while he was jailed or under surveillance of the Irish political police. He is being charged under the conspiracy laws. Ellis has announced that he is determined to die rather than be buried alive in a British prison and be subjected to the mistreatment other Irish prisoners have suffered. It is important to protest the extradition of Ellis and his trial in England by every means possible. Messages of support and reports of protests should be sent to An Phoblacht, 58 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, Ireland. * Continued from previous page
D EMONSTRATIONS involving hundreds of thousands of school students took place throughout France on Monday November 12 demanding adequate resources for their schools. The movement, which started in the working class suburbs around Paris, has been growing since mid-October. Coordination is mainly in the hands of two ad hoc committees - one associated with a left faction in the Socialist Party, the other controlled by the Jeunesses Communistes (Communist party youth).
The students' central demand is for an increase in the national education budget to provide more teachers, smaller classes and repairs to schools. Behind this demand lies the fear of ending up unemployed or in insecure employment. Indeed, since 1986, of the 640,000700,000 school-leavers arriving on the matriculation examination] stage" has led to growing resentment, given the substantial differences between the means at the disposal of schools in the richer inner-city areas compared to the suburbs. Thus selection continues in a different way.
The government, with president Mitterrand playing an active role, has been attempting to give an appearance of being interested in a "dialogue" with the school students without giving away too much in real terms. Promises of a more democratic regime in schools have been made, while the (inadequate) sum of four and a half billion additional francs has been given to regional authorities to use, if they wish, on education.
The movement has won considerable public support, including from teachers' unions as well as parents' associations at local level. *
Continued trom previous page er champions of what they call the territorial integrity of Eretz Israel [the Land of Israel]. The settlement policy and logic were also rebuffed by the Americans, as shown by the interruption of that dialogue of the deaf wrongly called the AmericanPalestinian dialogue.
The situation created by the Atlantic imperialists' invasion of the Arabian peninsula has undermined the very foundations of the peace initiative and strategy adopted by the Palestinian National Council in Algiers in 1988.
The Camp David Egyptian regime of Mubarak can no longer be counted on as a mediator of an accord with Washington, as those who conceived this initiative thought.
In turn, Washington, is no longer even thinking of demanding new concessions from the PLO leadership and still less of making demands or putting pressure on the state of Israel for the negotiations with the Palestinians that the champions of the peace initiative hoped to see held in Cairo.
As for the Zionist entity, it is now concentrating its efforts on three objectives - integrating hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union, trying to put an end to the intifada and watching the events in Jordan and getting ready to confront them.
With these concerns, Israel is not even interested any more in the diplomatic 28 maneuvers connected with the settlement game". *
NOTEBOOKS for study and research THE second edition of the Notebooks for Study and Research Number 1, "The Place of Marxism in History" by Ernest Mandel (40 pages, $3.50, £2, 20FF) is now available. A complete review of the basic tenets of Marxism as they emerged from the socialist movements of Marx's time, "This work by Ernest Mandel is not only an extremely precious educational tool — an initiation in Marxism from an activist and committed stand point — but also an original contribution that enriches and renews the debate on the place of Marxism in history" (Michael
Löwy). All payments should be made out to Pierre Rousset; mail orders to NSR, 2 rue
Richard Lenoir, 93108, Montreuil, France.
International Viewpoint #195 • November 26, 1990