British Columbia NDP MLA Selina Robinson (Coquitlam-Maillardville) has resigned from caucus to sit as an Independent, accusing her colleagues of being antisemites. “I can no longer defend the choices this government is making, and I need to mend my broken heart and I can’t do that when you simply offer me hugs and heart emojis but don’t care to educate yourselves or understand the fear and anguish of being Jewish in this moment,” said Robinson in a Wednesday letter to BC NDP MLAs..Calls for Robinson to resign ramped up on February 2 after she referred to Palestine as a wasteland during an online panel featuring Jewish politicians such as herself.She said young people “have no idea about the Holocaust; they don’t even think it happened.” In response, she acknowledged Israel was offered to Jews who were misplaced from their homes. “They don’t understand that it was a crappy piece of land with nothing on it,” she said. Robinson said on February 5 she would be stepping down as BC post-secondary education and future skills minister for insulting Palestine. READ MORE: BC post-secondary education minister resigns over anti-Palestine comment“This decision does not excuse my harmful comments nor does it absolve me of the work I am committed to doing,” she said. “While I had previously decided not to run again in the next election, I remain committed to my constituents for the remainder of my term.”.When BC Premier David Eby told Robinson that he did not see a way back and the only path forward was a resignation, she said she was upset. While resigning was not her choice, she said this was what he and the caucus wanted and would not fight them on it. She revealed her heart was broken in the days after the Hamas attacks in Israel. As a Jew, she offered to Eby to speak at a vigil planned a few days after the attacks. She put out a call for her colleagues to join her. She sent out a group email, which two or three NDP MLAs responded to. She asked how is it that in a caucus with 35 Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley MLAs, so few would respond to her. In the end, seven or eight showed up, but she said she was embarrassed. Within days of the attacks, NDP MLAs Aman Singh (Richmond-Queensborough) and Katrina Chen (Burnaby-Lougheed) sent a reply-all email calling on the BC government to make a statement about the plight of Palestinians. She accused Singh and Chen of wanting to move past the attacks and refocus it on a conflict going on for years. While Robinson was upset about this incident, she said their antisemitism was not what broke her. Rather, she said it “was your silence to their antisemitism that hurt the most.” About 300 Jewish physicians signed a letter calling on the University of British Columbia Medical School to address antisemitism. This letter was made public, but no other NDP MLAs commented on it. In December, certain MLAs received a letter from the Coquitlam Teachers’ Association filled with lies about Israel. NDP MLA Fin Donnelly (Coquitlam-Burke Mountain) confirmed to Robinson that he had received the letter, but he was going to ignore it. She said the final straw for her came last week. She pitched the idea to Eby to bring the Jewish and Muslim communities together to participate in interfaith dialogue. As part of this work, the NDP caucus could participate in antisemitism and Islamophobia training to set a positive example. Office of the Premier of British Columbia Chief of Staff Matt Smith said this work was too political and the government was uninterested. While antisemitism and Islamophobia have reached all-time highs, she said the BC government decided it did not have a role in helping these communities. She said this “shattered what was left of my broken heart.” Robinson concluded by saying the NDP puts politics and re-election before people. “Silence is not leadership — it’s cowardice,” she said. “And I cannot be silent.” Eby responded by saying he was saddened to see Robinson make this decision. “Clearly she is hurting and carrying a lot of pain,” he said. “I have deep respect and gratitude for all of the work she has done as a minister, as an MLA in our caucus and her advocacy for the Jewish community.”.While she made a mistake, he said she was doing the work to address the harm caused. He wished she had brought her concerns to him so they could have worked through them together.
