We watch the news; we read reports on what is happening on the ground in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan every day. We discuss the strategies of the US, Canada and all imperialists in every part of the world. We pay attention to the heroic resistance by unarmed or meagerly armed people in all places under direct military attack by imperialists. We imagine the lives lost, the dreams destroyed and the most simple and common daily dignities crushed under the heel of occupation. Some of us remember these oppressions from our own lives and others amongst us can only imagine what it would be like to lose our lives to war and occupation, but these realities bring us all to a common decision: we must resist.

These sentiments are not isolated to Youth-Third World Alliance. All around the world people have stepped aside from their daily lives to join the anti-war movement, to commit to the serious work of organizing against war and occupation.

Why your version of StopWar.ca is anti-democratic:

On October 8, a secret clique that had formed in StopWar.ca organized a secret meeting to strategize for the expulsion of one of the most active member groups of the coalition: Fire This Time. A week later, on October 15, this secret clique's maneuvering overwhelmed StopWar.ca and pushed through their undemocratic and bureaucratic decision. Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice was expelled from StopWar.ca and five individuals were banned from participation in your version of StopWar.ca: Shannon Bundock, Mike Krebs, Ali Yerevani, Nasim Sedaghat, and Ivan Drury.

The secret clique carried out this expulsion through secret, illegitimate meetings and decisions. On October 15, the counter-democratic purging masterminded by the secret clique passed through a StopWar.ca general meeting and undermined the most fundamental of all the points of agreement of the coalition: to build the broadest based peace / anti-war coalition possible. The expulsion of a group tirelessly committed to the building of an effective anti-war movement is the expulsion of a serious approach anti-war and anti-occupation politics from the coalition.

Since April, we have witnessed and experienced the tactics used by the secret clique of StopWar.ca against those who do not accept their political agenda: character assassination, lining up, double standard secret clique rule, Kangaroo courts, exclusion, secret meetings and personal attacks. On October 15, the expulsion of Fire This Time and five individuals continued the secret clique's anti-democratic, unprincipled and bureaucratic rule over the coalition.

The charges brought against Fire This Time by the secret clique are baseless. Fire This Time was attacked for making the posters for the October 25th demonstration when in fact it was the decision of the entire outreach committee to carry out its mandate to produce and distribute materials. The Phyllis Bennis forum poster was produced with the exact same approach by the "Phillis Bennis committee" but the old 'double standard rule' of the secret clique congratulated them for a job well done while bringing a motion for the expulsion of Fire This Time for the same work. The expulsion of Fire This Time in such a secret and undemocratic manner has made it clear that Youth-Third World Alliance can no longer work with your version of StopWar.ca that is dominated by this anti-democratic clique.

In almost every meeting of StopWar.ca, Youth-Third World Alliance and Fire This Time have patiently tried to discuss these problems and have advocated for democracy in StopWar.ca. On October 15, the secret clique named this commitment to democratic discussion 'disruptive' and used it as the stated reason for the expulsion of Fire This Time and the five individuals.

At the conclusion of the meeting on October 15, StopWar.ca co-chair Jeff called on Terry to call the police to forcibly remove members of Fire This Time and Youth Third World Alliance from the Maritime Labour Centre. Terry, a defender of the secret clique, then physically assaulted two members of Youth-Third World Alliance, Rachel Taylor and Mike Krebs. The same person, Terry, then called the police back to frame up one member of Fire This Time known to the police for his political activity. Terry smiled as he told them, 'Ivan Drury is here, come and get him."

By turning Fire This Time and Youth-Third World Alliance over to the police and conspiring with the police to put Ivan in jail, the secret clique in StopWar.ca betrayed the most basic principles of solidarity with oppressed people, people in struggle and the working class movement. The secret clique that now dominates StopWar.ca suppressed the protest of Youth-Third World Alliance against the undemocratic expulsion of Fire This Time by calling the police against other anti-war activists. In the clique's bureaucratic version of StopWar.ca, dissent is considered criminal behaviour and is treated with expulsion, and now, appallingly, even the threat of arrest.

Through the past months, Youth-Third World Alliance has been consistently attacked for 'insolence', for being 'idiot know nothing students', inexperienced 'youngsters' and 'smart young chicks'. These attacks and other bureaucratic forms of suppression have been carried out against us for the same reasons of so-called 'disruption' that Fire This Time and the five individuals were expelled and banned.

We cannot believe that the absolute disrespect we have consistently received from the secret clique and their dominant tendency in the coalition will change. As long as we remain committed to building an anti-war / anti-occupation movement in Vancouver we will be excluded and rejected by your degenerated version of StopWar.ca.

The Resignation of Youth Third World Alliance from your version of StopWar.ca:

StopWar.ca as you know it is illegitimate because it is not truly a coalition. It is a coalition where only one political tendency is acceptable. It is an undemocratic coalition where young people and people with independant politics cannot speak, cannot be heard and cannot vote. It is a bureaucratic coalition where the agenda is brought to the table prepackaged, having been prepared in secret meetings by people with secret agendas. It is a coalition where dissenters are purged with structural and bureaucratic maneuvering. The expulsion of Fire This Time means that the bureaucracy of the secret clique in StopWar.ca has eliminated democracy for the rest of the coalition.

At your next coalition meeting, look around at the faces at the table: How many young people do you see? How much vision? How much energy? How many independent people? How many people who go out in the streets to leaflet, poster and put on forums? How many people committed to building an anti-war movement? How many people with dissenting political views in this so-called 'broad based' coalition? Out of 160 endorsing groups, how many are active in the coalition? How many of these groups actually exist? Ask yourselves something: are you building an anti-war movement?

Youth-Third World Alliance has no choice but to resign from this undemocratic coalition where the bureaucratic clique has taken over. We choose what we have chosen since our organization formed in April of this year and the early formation of the clique in StopWar.ca refused to endorse our demonstration against the war on Iraq: we choose to build a movement against war and occupation.

We have invested thousands of hours in building the anti-war movement through StopWar.ca. We have made contacts in every college and university in the Lower Mainland and know the faces of thousands of people on the streets of this city. Youth-Third World Alliance and Fire This Time are StopWar.ca.

Effective immediately, we resign from your version of StopWar.ca to join with the StopWar.ca that is committed to building an effective mass movement in Vancouver and in British Columbia against war and occupation.

In Solidarity with the struggling people of Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan;

Youth-Third World Alliance