[van-announce] Mike Krebs Resigns from Fire This Time, is Assaulted by Ali Yerevani

[Mike Krebs]

*Please Distribute Widely*
*Sorry for Any Cross-Postings*
** 
*Mike Krebs Resigns from Fire This Time, is Assaulted by Ali Yerevani*

 May 5th 2005
 Introduction 

 Greetings.

 My name is Mike Krebs. I am a 26-year-old indigenous activist residing in 
Vancouver. I am a student at Simon Fraser University, and a general member 
of the SFU First Nations Student Association.

 I also work at the East End Food Co-op, and am a member of the Canadian 
Auto Workers Union Local 3000. I have been involved in various 
anti-imperialist, indigenous, anti-poverty, and working class groups and 
struggles since I became politically active in the mid-late nineties. I was 
a founding member of the Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice, Youth-3
rd World Alliance, Mobilization Against War and Occupation, the Anti-Poverty 
Committee, the Indigenous Peoples Grassroots Movement, Vancouver Communities 
in Solidarity With Cuba, and other organizations.

 I am writing this statement to inform as many left-progressive individuals 
and groups as possible about the unprincipled attacks, threats, 
intimidation, and physical assault that I have been subjected to by some 
members of Fire This Time since I informed the organization that I was 
resigning. This statement is being distributed via email, and is now the 
main page of the Fire This Time website, of which I am still the sole 
administrator, and will remain so until I receive notice from Fire This 
Time, either in writing or via email, that my resignation has been accepted, 
and this campaign of intimidation against me stops.

 This is intended mainly as a preliminary statement of the main facts and 
incidents involved in this campaign against me. If and when necessary, I 
will publish more detailed and analytical pieces concerning these attacks, 
but this statement is simply to put the facts out there. For the most part 
they speak for themselves.

 I may also be compiling and publishing the documentation I have that is 
relevant to these incidents, including witness statements, voice messages, 
and phone conversations I have recently had with certain members of Fire 
This Time in the last few days, all of which I taped.

 My Resignation from Fire This Time 

 I have resigned from Fire This Time and Youth 3rd World Alliance, an 
organization that is closely affiliated with Fire This Time. I informed the 
coordinators of these organizations over the phone of this decision on Tuesday 
May 3rd, 2005, at roughly 5 PM, and informed them that I would be putting 
these resignations in writing shortly. I informed both of these coordinators 
that I was resigning due to the need to deal with family issues, and that I 
would meet with members of these two organizations as soon as possible in 
order to hand over all of my tasks, responsibilities, contacts, and 
materials. This includes the electronic files from past issues of the Fire 
This Time newspaper, since I was the primary layout and graphics designer 
for this newspaper, as well as the files for the Fire This Time website, for 
which I was also responsible for designing and updating.

 *Phone messages between Ali Yerevani and Mike Krebs, May 4th*

 The next day, I received a message on my voicemail from Ali Yerevani, 
another founding member of Fire This Time and Editor of the Fire This Time 
newspaper, stating that I was required to meet with Fire This Time that 
evening to make a 'final decision' around my resignation, and that the 
meeting would take place in my apartment later that evening. He also 
informed me that this meeting was 'not a choice.'

 Later in the day, at around 4:50 PM, I left a message with Ali stating that 
I didn't understand the purpose of the meeting, that I had already made a 
final decision to resign, and that I was not going to elaborate any further 
on my reasons for resigning. I also stated that I wanted there to be as 
smooth as a transition as possible both for the organization and myself, and 
would meet with them as soon as possible once I had prepared all of the 
tasks, responsibilities, and materials I needed to hand over. I stated that 
until I had prepared this, I didn't see a reason to meet.

 I also conveyed this to Ivan Drury, another founding member of Fire This 
Time, during an exchange I had with him during the day while at work at the 
East End Food Co-op (Ivan works there as well). When I told him that my 
decision was final, he said 'no, nothing's final yet,' and walked away.

 *Phone conversations between Ali Yerevani, Ivan Drury, and Mike Krebs, May 
4th*

 I was finally able to discuss this over the phone with Ali, and then Ivan, 
in the evening starting at around 9:10 PM. I called Ali, and he told me that 
they were waiting for me out front of my building, that would meet that 
night, and I had no choice. Ali, Ivan, and Shannon Bundock, the Fire This 
Time coordinator, were there. Nasim Sedaghat, one of the five members of the 
group, was not there, and I was told by Ali and Ivan that they didn't know 
where she was.

 These two consecutive phone conversations I had with Ali and Ivan were 
quite long and circular, and if necessary they will be transcribed from the 
tape I have of them and published. For the purposes of this statement, I 
will outline the main points of discussion relevant to this report

 The main points I put forward were:

 1) I had already made my decision to resign due to the need to deal with 
family issues. 

2) I was not going to give any further reasons to them for my decision to 
resign.

3) Fire This Time is a voluntary organization, and I had a basic right to 
voluntarily resign without further explanation or reasons than the ones I 
had given.

4) I did not understand the purpose of the meeting or accept its legitimacy 
(meeting with only a segment of the group). 

5) Once my resignation was accepted by Fire This Time, I was willing to meet 
to discuss handing over my tasks, responsibilities, and materials and ensure 
a smooth transition.

 The response to these I received from both Ali and Ivan, along with 
comments in the background made by Shannon, were:

1) They were not accepting my resignation until I would meet with them to 
further explain my reasons for resigning.

2) They didn't recognize my right to individually resign.

3) I had no choice but to meet with them 'right now' and they would wait for 
me to get there (I was not at home at the time).

4) If I didn't meet with them that night, they would leave 'no safe space' 
for me in Vancouver. They emphasized that they knew where I lived, and where 
I worked, and would make my life difficult and not accept my resignation 
until I met with them to explain further why I was resigning.

 Specifically, both Ivan and Ali stated that if I refused to meet with them 
that night, they would come into my workplace the next day and harass me 
until I agreed to meet with them. They both stated that Ali would demand to 
speak with me until the manager of the store would be forced to kick him out 
and/or call the police on him. I asked Ivan if their intent was to try and 
provoke me and frame me up for being somehow 'responsible' for Ali, who 
recently won his refugee case to stay in Canada, being arrested by the 
police. Ivan replied 'no, it's called something else. It's called 
blackmail.'

 I made it clear to Ivan that I would not be meeting with them that night, 
that I didn't trust their true intentions for holding this informal meeting 
with me, and that they had no choice but to accept my resignation without 
any further explanation. He finished with saying 'then we'll see you at work 
tomorrow.'

 *Harassment, Intimidation, and Physical Assault by Ali Yerevani against 
Mike Krebs, May 5th 2005*

* *

Ivan and Ali stayed true to their threat. On Thursday, May 5th, the came to 
the East End Food Co-op just before 12:30 PM. I was working, and as Ivan 
knew, was about to start my lunch break.

 Ivan went to the back door of the food co-op waiting for me. Ali came in 
through the front door, close to where I was standing, along with several 
other people who witnessed the incident of physical assault. Ali cam up to 
me and said 'we're waiting for you outside to meet, and you have no choice.' 
I stayed to him that I was not going to meet with them.

 At that point, Ali stepped towards me, and I took a step back. He grabbed 
my glasses off my face, breaking them in half, and threw them on the ground. 
One of the other employees of the co-op told him that now he would have to 
leave. Ali stepped towards the door, and again stated that they were waiting 
for me to meet with them. I said again that I would not meet with them, and 
Ali left the store.

 I currently have witnesses who have written, or are writing, statements 
documenting this incident, and will prepare signed and sworn affidavits if 
necessary.

 After this assault, Ali and Ivan waited for about an hour outside of the 
store, with Ivan at the back door, and Ali at the front. Soon after they 
left, I arranged to have someone come pick me up, and was given the rest of 
the day off with pay. I also filed a harassment claim against Ivan with the 
union through one of the shop stewards.

 I am Still at Risk From This Reactionary Campaign 

 I am currently staying away from my apartment, and am unsure as to when I 
will be returning to work. My safety, security, and physical wellbeing are 
still at risk due to the stated threats and actual physical assault that 
have been waged against me by Ali Yerevani and Ivan Drury. If there is one 
more incident in this campaign of intimidation, harassment, and assault 
against me by them or anyone else, I will go to the police, file for 
restraining orders, and make sure that they are banned from the building 
where I live.

 Until I have reasonable assurance that this campaign of intimidation, 
harassment, and assault against me by some members of Fire This Time (and 
possibly other individuals) has been halted, I have no choice but to keep my 
temporary places of residences secret from all but a few close comrades, 
friends, and family members that I trust. I have been offered many places to 
stay and computers to use until I feel safe returning to my apartment.

 In Defense of the Principles of Working Class Struggle 

 This campaign of intimidation, harassment, and assault against me by Ali 
Yerevani, Ivan Drury, Shannon Bundock, and anyone else participating in it 
must be condemned by all leftists, progressives, revolutionaries, and 
working, poor, and oppressed people as a violation of the basic principles 
of working class unity. Here I will quote from an editorial from Issue # 
20/21 of the Fire This Time Newspaper called 'In Defense of the Principles 
of Working Class Struggle: Against Violence in the Working Class Movement':

 "It is not a matter of being against violence *in principle*; we are not 
proposing to take up that discussion here. In fact, we believe that when 
oppressed people are attacked with violence, whether by the ruling class 
directly or by anyone, it is necessary to defend ourselves *by any means 
necessary *as Malcolm X said*.* But when violence is used against oppressed 
people and their organizations, historically it has the effect of limiting 
and ultimately destroying the movement by terrorizing the very people who 
must actively lead the movement." (To read this article in full, see 
http://fire-this-time.org/principles.htm.)

 It should be pointed out, ironically and hypocritically, that as an 
editorial, this article was authored primarily by Ivan with significant 
assistance from Ali, and this article was written primarily to address the 
unprincipled, reactionary harassment and threats that Ivan faced less than 
half a year ago at the same food co-op.

 I am putting forward a basic set of demands to Fire This Time and
Youth 3rd-World
Alliance:

 1) That my resignation from Fire This Time be accepted by Fire This Time 
without any further discussion concerning the reasons for my resignation, 
and that I receive notice from Fire This Time, either in writing or via 
email, that my resignation has been accepted.

 2) That my resignation from Youth 3rd-World Alliance be accepted by Youth 3
rd-World Alliance without any further discussion concerning the reasons for 
my resignation, and that I receive notice from Youth 3rd-World Alliance, 
either in writing or via email, that my resignation has been accepted.

 3) That this campaign of intimidation, harassment, and assault against me 
by some members of Fire This Time (and possibly other individuals) cease 
immediately.

 Once these demands have been met, I will remove this statement from the 
Fire This Time website, and arrange to hand over any and all documents, 
files, contacts, materials, and outstanding tasks and responsibilities that 
I had while I still worked with Fire This Time and Youth 3rd World Alliance. 
Once these demands have been met, I will also hand over access to the Fire 
This Time website and email account. I will no longer, however, meet with 
Ali, Ivan, Shannon, or anyone else involved in this vicious campaign against 
me to facilitate my transition out, and will transfer these materials over 
either through intermediaries, or by email and mail wherever possible and 
necessary.

 In conclusion, I would like to add that I never intended to leave Fire This 
Time and Youth 3rd-World Alliance in this fashion. My intention was to leave 
responsibly, quietly, and with dignity, take a short break from political 
work, then reassess and restart political activity based on my reassessment 
of my position within the overall relationship of forces in Vancouver and 
beyond.

 I also intended to leave with full respect for the important work that Fire 
This Time and Youth-3rd World Alliance do, and did not intend to widely 
discuss my reasons for my resignations and any possible political and/or 
organizational differences I had. However, I have the responsibility to 
expose what has been done to me in the past few days by some members of Fire 
This Time, and I will continue to defend myself against this vicious 
campaign, and for my basic right to resign from a voluntary organization.

 Anyone seeking to discuss this matter further should feel free to contact 
me at:

 Phone: 604-779-7430

Email: mikekrebs at gmail.com

Website (temporary, see above): http://fire-this-time.org

  In Solidarity,

 Mike Krebs, ex-member of Fire This Time, ex-member of Youth-3rd World 
Alliance
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