Canadian Jewish politician Selina Robinson resigned from the New Democratic Party (NDP). Photo: Screenshot

A Jewish politician who was forced to resign from her cabinet post in the government of British Columbia over remarks she made that were deemed offensive to Palestinians has announced her decision to quit the caucus of the ruling New Democratic Party (NDP) in the Canadian province, telling her colleagues that “you broke my heart” in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel.

Selina Robinson, who served as minister of post-secondary education until last month, told local news outlets that she could no longer support the government, citing its indifference to antisemitism, including among her colleagues in the left-wing NDP.

“That’s been my experience,” Robinson told CTV when asked about antisemitism in the NDP caucus. “There’s been history of that. I’m aware of people who have said or done antisemitic things over time. They’ve apologized or not.”

Robinson added that she could not “continue to be the only voice speaking up against antisemitism and Jew hatred.” She said she had raised her concerns with British Columbia premier David Eby, but that “I continue to be the only one who is saying we have to do something differently.”

“All of this has made Jewish people feel unsafe,” Robinson said.

Robinson was compelled to tender her resignation from the cabinet following objections from the increasingly influential pro-Hamas lobby in Canada to a speech she made on Jan. 30, in which she pointed out that in the years prior to the creation of the State of Israel, the land was considered a relatively undeveloped backwater in the Middle East.

“They don’t understand that it was a crappy piece of land with nothing on it,” Robinson said during an online panel hosted by a Jewish group, B’nai B’rith Canada. “You know, there were several hundred thousand people but other than that, it didn’t produce an economy. It couldn’t grow things it didn’t have anything on it, and that it was the folks that were displaced that came and had been living there for generations and together they worked hard and they had their own battles.”

Despite apologizing for arguing a position that is held by many of the region’s historians and volunteering for Islamophobia training, Robinson said she was shunned by her colleagues, with her own anxieties about antisemitism ignored.

“It’s been a month of, I would say, crying every day,” she admitted after she resigned from the NDP caucus on Wednesday.

Ravi Kahlon, the NDP house leader in British Columbia, said that Robinson’s departure was a “sad day” but denied that antisemitism was in issue in the party.

“Selina is clearly hurting. I certainly hope she finds peace as she moves forward,” Kahlon said. “We’re going to continue to call out racism whether it’s toward the Jewish community, to others in our communities.”

In a lengthy resignation letter published on Wednesday, Robinson addressed her colleagues directly.

“You broke my heart — not just on Feb. 5 when the Premier told me that after the caucus talked about me he did not see a way back, that folks were wondering why I hadn’t already resigned and that the only path forward was a resignation,” she wrote. “You actually broke my heart in the days after Oct. 7 — the day terrorists went into Israel and brutally murdered, slaughtered, raped, mutilated, killed, and kidnapped 1200 civilians. These terrorists didn’t target the military, they killed children, concert goers, grandmothers, peace activists, and a young British Columbian named Ben Mizrachi.”

Later on in the same letter, she asked pointedly, “Where are you when protesters, their faces covered, march through our campuses intimidating young Jewish adults who now hide their Jewish identity? Where are you when young Jewish students who get trapped in bathrooms on campus because the marching is happening in hallways, and they are afraid to step out into the hall for fear of becoming a target of their hate? Where are your ideals of a broad, inclusive society? How have you been standing up for your declared values?”

Writing about rising antisemitism in Canada in the National Post on Thursday, columnist Adam Pankratz observed, “Whether one looks to Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver in the past week, we have a mountain of evidence that whatever our political leaders may say, when push comes to shove, they don’t really care about Jewish people or real racism and discrimination hurled their way.”

Earlier this week, pro-Hamas demonstrators variously chanted “Death to the Jews,” “Go Back to Palestine,” and “Free Palestine” outside the Montreal Holocaust Museum, where three Israeli reservists were giving a talk.

Turning to Robinson’s fate, Pankratz stated:”We know no one would be silent were Robinson black, indigenous, or a member of the LGBTQ community. There would be an avalanche of support, with everyone from backbenchers to the premier falling over themselves to make a show of righteous support of an assailed minority. But not if you’re Jewish.”