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To All People Interested in Building a Movement Against War and Occupation:


Re: The Undemocratic Expulsion of Fire This Time and five Individuals from "StopWar.ca"

Dear Friends

On Thursday October 23, Jef Keighley and Irene McInnes released a public letter about the expulsion from StopWar.ca, the largest anti-war coalition in BC, of Fire This Time and five individuals, Shannon Bundock, Mike Krebs, Nasim Sedeghat, Ali Yerevani and Ivan Drury, (the FTT-5). This letter was full of speculation, baseless allegations, half-truths and complete lies.

Jef and Irene's letter was written and released to the public in an attempt to silence, isolate and restrict the work of Fire This Time in the anti-war movement in Vancouver. The purpose of this response statement is to correct the lies put out by Jef and Irene and to give you an understanding of the commitment Fire This Time has consistently shown to the healthy, democratic functioning of StopWar.ca as a vehicle of the anti-war movement in the Lower Mainland.

Even prior to the formation of Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice (FTT) in January of this year, our founding members were active in StopWar.ca and were amongst the founders of the coalition then known as the November 17th Peace Coalition. Since that time, FTT has participated fully in discussion and decision making in StopWar.ca meetings and in the carrying out of these decisions in the streets of Vancouver. There was often heated debate in coalition meetings about everything from structure to strategy to political focus, but Fire This Time made our position on all issues clear and wrote and distributed documents outlining our positions to ensure necessary democratic political discussion. Although we often found ourselves in the minority, we abided by and respected the structural decisions of the coalition and were amongst the most committed and hardest workers in the coalition carrying out even the strategic decisions we disagreed with. We carried out this work because we understood that commitment to the anti-war movement meant commitment to building StopWar.ca.

The attacks against Fire This Time, and particular the FTT-5, began when the bombing of Iraq began. A secret clique took shape in StopWar.ca and carried out a consistent campaign of character assassinations, the spreading of dangerous and irresponsible lies and rumors, and finally the undemocratic conspiracy for the expulsion of the strongest elements of the minority voice in the coalition: Fire This Time and the FTT-5.

This secret clique has shared information with the police and then spread police rumors throughout the coalition about Ivan Drury being 'dangerous and crazy'. These same people, in association with the secret clique have accused Ali Yerevani of being an agent of CSIS. These same people recently publicly released the real name of Nasim Sedaghat, arrogantly revealing her presence to the Iranian secret service. Further, the fabricated charges of 'hacking personal computers' and the threat of pursuing criminal charges for these unproven and speculative charges puts members of FTT in very real danger of being thrown in jail or worse, being deported from Canada. The willingness of the secret clique of StopWar.ca and Jef Keighley in particular, to carry out this betrayal of all principles of anti-war organizing and of working class solidarity is underscored by his order to call the police to have the FTT-5 removed from the Maritime Labour Centre as 'trespassers' following the expulsion of October 15.

Despite the damage that may be done through the giving over of the FTT-5 to the police of this and other countries, the most politically damaging allegation in Jef and Irene's letter is that the FTT-5 have a 'history of fomenting splits within various organizations in Greater Vancouver'. Not only is this not true historically, it is not true even in the case of StopWar.ca. As explained, FTT consistently pushed for open and complete discussion in StopWar.ca meetings to keep a split from forming politically in the coalition. This discussion was structurally and undemocratically suppressed. Far from espousing 'ultra-left rhetoric', FTT has consistently spoken against any language on posters that may alienate people who are against war, but not against government policy not directly related to war; like slogans and demos against Paul Martin, as an example from recent months.

The real reason for this expulsion is revealed in one line in Jef and Irene's letter, "[FTT's] views were growing increasingly at odds with the vast majority of StopWar.ca's other small, medium and large member groups." What changed? FTT wrote documents outlining our views both within StopWar.ca and in our newspaper throughout our entire time with the coalition, and these politics have been consistent throughout: that StopWar.ca must build a movement against war and occupation. The FTT-5 were expelled through the undemocratic and bureaucratic secret meetings of the secret clique because this view became alien to the 'vast majority of StopWar.ca'.

Nowhere has the StopWar.ca that expelled Fire This Time explained what political views and strategies they hold so different from the 'ones espoused by FTT.' Not even the letter released by Jef and Irene against FTT makes any mention of what path they see for StopWar.ca that will part from the strategy advocated by FTT.

The views of FTT, once shared by the whole of StopWar.ca, became isolated to a minority position through the undemocratic and bureaucratic maneuvering of the Secret Clique. When these undemocratic and bureaucratic maneuvers came to dominate the whole coalition, the result was Jef's 'one organization, one vote' restructuring motion. Independent people involved in the coalition for many months lost their vote in the decision making of the coalition, and the result of this was the flight of many serious, important and committed activists from StopWar.ca. The expulsion of FTT followed as their most desperate attempt to silence the minority voice of FTT in StopWar.ca.

The expulsion of FTT was carried with a majority vote of a minority of participants. Out of 160 endorsing groups of StopWar.ca, only 24 voted for the expulsion of FTT. Five of the member groups that support FTT, including FTT ourselves and Youth Third World Alliance, refused to participate in this illegitimate vote in protest against the lack of due process in the expulsion.

There has been much made of the publishing of emails in FTT's document. However, these so-called 'private emails' documented the conspiracy against the FTT-5. The plotting revealed in these emails of the secret clique should have taken place openly in StopWar.ca meetings, not in closed email loops and secret meetings held specifically for the exclusion of Fire This Time and others who share our goals, strategy and views. The real crime against democracy is the content of these emails.

We have attached a document that provides more of a background of the time leading up to the expulsion of Fire This Time and the FTT-5. In the coming days, we will be releasing a more complete document outlining the history of StopWar.ca and the attacks against, exclusion and final expulsion of Fire This Time.

Fire This Time and Youth Third World Alliance are currently organizing with the students and young people from high school, college and university campuses all across the lower mainland in the Student-Youth Committee Against War. We are organizing a demonstration on November 22nd against the occupation of Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan and a 'Youth Against Occupation' conference on Saturday November 29th.

We encourage and welcome you to get involved in organizing and building the mass movement against war and occupation in the Lower Mainland. This movement demands the active involvement of all people opposed to the occupation of Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan. We look forward to working with you.

Should you have any questions about the expulsion of Fire This Time and the FTT-5 or to get involved in building the movement against war and occupation, feel free to contact us at any time.


In Solidarity;

Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice

Shannon Bundock: 604-340-9670
Coordinator, Fire This Time
www.fire-this-time.org
info@fire-this-time.org

October 2003