1) Ivan Drury’s final resignation letter to Fire This Time
2) FTT’s response to Ivan resignation
3) Y3WA response to Ivan’s resignation
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1) Ivan Drury’s final resignation letter to Fire This Time
October 5, 2007
I am writing to inform you that I have decided to officially resign from the Fire This Time editorial board.
Please take my name off of the editorial board listing.
As you probably know, I am currently living in Vancouver. I do not intend to attend events organized by any Fire This Time related organizations (MAWO, VCSC, etc.) or contribute to the Fire This Time newspaper. I do plan to meet with other activists and/or attend events organized by other activist groups; though I do not have any specific or immediate plans to do so at this time.
A letter explaining this decision in the context of my political differences with FTT is forthcoming.
Ivan Drury
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2) FTT’s Response to Ivan’s resignation letter
October 14, 2007
Dear Ivan,
1- We received your attached letter below dated October 5th 2007 and as you requested, your name will be removed from Fire This Time newspaper editorial board in the upcoming issue. We apologize that it
has taken a little more time to respond to you, but we are sure you understand because you are fully aware of our heavy involvement in the defence case of Alison Bodine regarding her arrest and the political
attack on our movement by the government of Canada.
2- There is no need to send any explanation to the FTT newspaper editorial board regarding your resignation, since this is not related to the editorial board. You were assigned to the editorial board. Or
it is better to say that as a founding member of this movement and FTT newspaper you were part of the editorial board as a member of Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice and later as a member of Youth
Third World Alliance (Y3WA). This was one political assignment out of many that you had. All those assignments, including this one, were given to you by Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice or Y3WA.
For an explanation or any other arrangements you need to communicate with those organizations.
3- Therefore the FTT editorial board is not interested in knowing any other explanation regarding your differences, what you are doing, planning or whom you are or will work with. We have some ideas about
where you are going from here, but if we want to express it we will certainly do it through those organizations that we are members of and that assigned us to the editorial board.
Respectfully,
Fire This Time editorial board
Oct 14, 2007
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3) Y3WA response to Ivan’s resignation letter
October 14, 2007
Dear Ivan,
We discussed your October 5th letter (email) to the Fire This Time editorial board in Youth Third World Alliance (Y3WA) and we were truly disappointed by your lack of responsibility and accountability as a
political activist based on many accounts:
1- Your letter shows a lack of understanding, knowledge or perhaps being careless of the general norms of being a member of an organization and how to deal with a departure from an organization or group respectfully especially when you considered yourself as a one of its central leaders (if you will, a founding member). In your letter to Y3WA, January 4th 2007, you stated: “Due to exhaustion, I request a 60-day leave of absence, effective immediately. During this leave, I request that my membership in Y3WA,
including all privileges and responsibilities, be suspended.”
Your request for a leave of absence (LOA) with suspension was a contradictory term and line of action since ‘leave of absence’ simply means you are away from your organization and does not mean you’re
suspended or even removed from your position. We agreed with your overall request out of courtesy and with an understanding of your situation, which was not just ‘exhaustion’ but confusion regarding your political work, political perspective as well as your personal and emotional issues inside and outside of our movement. You also said you needed time to think about overall political work regarding us and
in general. Later we extended your LOA to one more month and then to one year. Up to April 2007 we still had some communication based on some reports and assignments you had to do for us which we thank you
for.
Your resignation from the Fire This Time editorial board does not extend automatically to your resignation from Y3WA or other organizations you are member of. You can send us a simple letter regarding your resignation from Y3WA or to any other organization you are member of including Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice, like the one you sent to the Fire This Time newspaper editorial board (hopefully this time more respectful).
2- Your email to Fire This Time newspaper editorial board is a sign of a further departure from revolutionary politics. You wrote: “I do not intend to attend events organized by any Fire This Time
related organizations (MAWO, VCSC, etc.) or contribute to the Fire This Time newspaper.”
We understand and respect your decision when you say you do not wish to contribute to Fire This Time newspaper, or even if you choose another anti-war coalition for your activities in anti war work based
on whatever criticism you have of MAWO, but simply not to participate in activities for the sake of our involvement in them is not only childish but is indeed factional and sectarian. Why would an honest, serious and sincere political activist not want to support and get involved in the Alison Bodine defence campaign, or not be involved in the Cuba solidarity work and Free the Cuban 5 campaign? We are the only group that seriously does a Cuba solidarity campaign in Vancouver and has a reputation of being the most active group among more than 300 Free the Cuban 5 Committees around the world, would you not be involved in the Cuba solidarity work in Vancouver just because we are part of it?
From your email it seems that out of convenience and to have an easy life you have decided seriously to switch camps, the same way that Nasim and Mike Krebs? betrayal did. Otherwise why would someone like
you resent a revolutionary group-trend so much so that whatever they do is illegitimate for you to the point that you are boycotting their activities altogether? Obviously you are following the Status Quo Left (SQL) in trying to boycott us. Do you really understand and are you aware what are you doing?
3- You wrote:
“A letter explaining this decision in the context of my political differences with FTT is forthcoming.”
Ivan, you are not sending us a news release and we are not a news agency that just receives your reasons of defection to the SQL (or as you claim your differences with FTT). What you are really doing is selfish, arrogant and politically ridiculous and meaningless. If you are out of this movement and don?t care what we do then why are you sending your “differences” to us? Basically it appears that you are really just announcing them to us or you are just informing us about your “differences.” We have to say No thank you, we are not interested in knowing your “differences” with us in this manner and approach. Since you are switching camps, these “differences” only have an entertainment value in the SQL circus. We will watch how you’ll entertain them like Nasim and Mike Krebs – ironically those whom you yourself verbally and in writing criticized for their defections based on demoralization. You might even be awarded by the SQL for your brave move, and hopefully as you have always wished, unlike us, they might realize and utilize your full political capacity. If you decide to go public in order to make this circus even more exciting for the SQL, then we will respond to you publicly also, of course not just to respond to you but for the record since debate on the public internet is not a serious way of settling accounts for any serious political differences! If you are serious about your “differences” you must conduct yourself in a way that we can take you seriously.
This is ironic and a pity that until Jan 4th 2007 at your meeting with Shannon, Tamara and Ali in the Binos restaurant, the same day that you earlier sent the email regarding leave of absence and suspending your
assignments by yourself unilaterally, we had no idea as you claimed that you had “serious” differences with us since the beginning of summer 2006. Until January 4th you had never discussed one word about
your differences not only with these three comrades of yours, but with nobody in any organizational or political leadership capacity with whom you were doing political work. Basically if you had any political
differences then you were dishonest with us and you hid them from us and did not dare or responsibly bring them to the attention of your organization. You did not care about discussing it and as a result we both missed a great opportunity (if you had any differences) to turn them into an internal discussion and valuable education. You neglected the democratic process and did not trust your comrades; therefore they lost their trust in you.
Now after 8 months you are coming back from your leave of absence, and you are saying that you would not like to have anything to do with us, but you are going to “explain” to us about your decision. What does
this mean in terms of political discussion on differences within a revolutionary organization? What does this mean in terms of revolutionary conduct within a revolutionary movement? If you are out of this movement then you are not interested in debating, discussing or even educating us for any changes or any corrections that we might need to do. If you were serious about it you would stay in your organization and take yourself seriously and discuss it as a revolutionary in a revolutionary organization with revolutionary conduct and norms. Unfortunately, you avoided all this and therefore you yourself eliminated your privileges as a member and leader within our organization.
4- As we mentioned above as long as you continue practicing petty bourgeois conduct and as long as you continue sectarianism, factionalism, arrogance and hostility toward us, we are not at all interested in conducting any discussion with you about your “differences.” If you don?t need us, we don?t need you. We are sure you have perfectly noticed that since you have left our movement and stopped working as a professional revolutionary in January 2007 your departure and absence did not have any negative effect on our movement but rather we’ve continued to grow and have become stronger and more effective. Basically you have overestimated your role in our movement. Now that you have decided become active against us, in switching to SQL, you actually have no choice but to display your hostility in public- You have to expect what will come as a result of this hostility and the slander campaign that you will conduct. Too bad for
both of us.
5- Regardless of the ugly political situation that you have created, in the discussion we had in Y3WA couple of days ago we decided to give you one more opportunity ?needless to say it is also an opportunity for us- to discuss your “differences” with us in a mature and revolutionary way. We suggest you choose a Saturday or Sunday in the next four weeks and a convenient place, like a room or a small conference room in one of the community centers, all day -or at least six hours- to find out what you really have to say to us about these
“differences” and of course you will have the privilege to listen to our opinion regarding your “differences”. Cost of the venue will be shared between us of course and you will have equal time. If you are really interested in discussing any issues with us in a respectful manner; then this is the way it will go, there will be no other way. If you are not interested in our offer, then this will be the end of our relationship. Beyond this proposal there will be no other communication with you.
Regards,
Youth Third World Alliance
Oct 14, 2007
CC: Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice
