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Free Palestine Exeter Palestine Solidarity Campaign recently hosted the visit of a dance and drama group from Balata Camp from Nablus on the West Bank. Some 250 people crowded into the hall to see A’edoon, a powerful drama of the experience of expulsion and life in occupied Palestine. They have been touring across Britain.

Around 250 workers blocked a road on the Shropshire border in the West Midlands last week in protest at their pay and conditions. Their action has given a glimpse of the way young people from Eastern Europe are brought in to harvest the crops which then appear in Britain’s supermarkets.

The workers sacked by multinational caterers Gate Gourmet quickly became a rallying point for everyone who is sick of long hours, low pay and an endless race to the bottom under New Labour.

The British government has for three years repeatedly blocked a European Union regulation that would make it illegal for Gate Gourmet to bring in super-exploited agency workers to undercut permanent staff.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto are trapped on the edge of a cliff by angry Native Americans. The Lone Ranger turns to Tonto and says, "Looks like we’re surrounded, Tonto." Tonto replies, "What do you mean ‘we’, paleface?"

An Israeli soldier was convicted of manslaugher last week for the killing of British peace activist Tom Hurndall in April 2003 in Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Taysir Hayb shot Tom in the head as he tried to help Palestinian children.

The bombings (or attempts) of 7 and 21 July seem to have thrown commentators and politicians back yet again to endless ponderings on what it means to be British.

The immediate future of the trade union movement in Britain rests heavily on the outcome of the battle to reinstate 670 workers summarily sacked by the Gate Gourmet catering company at Heathrow last week.

Shop stewards at British Airways (BA) held a meeting on Thursday morning last week. It was addressed by T&G general secretary Tony Woodley and other officials who informed them of the mass sackings at Gate Gourmet.

A battle with implications for every worker in Britain was raging at Heathrow airport as Socialist Worker went to press.

From El Salvador to Iraq Recent leaks in Britain and the US promising troop reductions in Iraq should not be taken as a weakening of Anglo-American commitment to winning a protracted war.

The House of Saud’s long career in the service of imperialism began in 1913, when King Abd al Aziz, the ruler of the Najd area of the Arabian peninsula, came seeking a British subsidy for his kingdom. His first request was unsuccessful, despite winning the backing of the British government’s India office.