The calls for Selina Robinson to be removed from the BC provincial cabinet keep growing after she called Palestine before European colonization “a crappy piece of land with nothing on it”.
A group of 18 BC mosques and Muslim associations published a letter Sunday saying NDP MLAs were unwelcome in their space until Robinson is gone as post-secondary education minister. The BC Civil Liberties Association, Independent Jewish Voices and many Palestine solidarity groups have also added their voices to the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) and BC’s Federation of Post-Secondary Educators in calling for Robinson’s ouster from the cabinet. A number of prominent indigenous voices and Green Party politicians have demanded the removal of a minister who said Palestine “didn’t produce an economy, it couldn’t grow things it didn’t have anything on it” before Zionism. A Fire Selina Robinson account has popped up on X and more than two million have watched the original clip of her remarks on the social media platform previously known as Twitter. (Other versions of Robinson’s statements have been viewed by hundreds of thousands more).
A number of federal NDP MPs have criticized Robinson’s remarks. In a letter posted to Instagram NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said he discussed the matter with BC Premier David Eby and called Robinson’s statements “hurtful”.
Robinson’s racism was even too much for B’nai Brith. The stridently anti-Palestinian organization told City News, “Robinson appeared as a panelist at our event Tuesday evening, which was billed as an Evening With Jewish Officials. B’nai Brith Canada was in no way responsible for the comments made by Minister Robinson and they do not reflect the opinion of our organization.”
B’nai Brith’s bid to distance itself from Robinson’s remarks is a result of the backlash, which has gone global. Curiously though, B’nai Brith head Marvin Rotrand failed to criticize or remark on what Robinson said when speaking a minute after her flagrantly anti-Palestinian comments. In fact, Rotrand spoke positively of Robinson before and after her statement.
The same can be said for the Trudeau government’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism Deborah Lyons. A few minutes after the minister described Palestine as “crappy” Lyons repeatedly praised Robinson labelling her “wonderful”. During the webinar Lyons said she worked closely with Robinson to combat “antisemitism” — i.e. criticism of Israel — at universities.
Part of the reason Robinson put her foot in her mouth was the anti-Palestinian tenure of the talk. At the forum Rotrand described protests against Israel’s genocide as “Jewish hatred” and complained there had been “precious few arrests”. Basically, Robinson was too comfortable and let slip what she tells likeminded folks in private.
Amidst the rightful outrage at her colonialist comments, Robinson’s intervention to fire a tenured professor because they expressed support for Palestinians has been downplayed. BC’s post-secondary education minister flagrantly violated academic freedom by pressuring Langara College to fire Dr. Natalie Knight for supporting the Palestinian cause. After Knight was cleared by a college board for widely mediatized comments backing Palestinian resistance, Robinson quote tweeted a Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs statement noting, “I am disappointed that this instructor continues to have a public post secondary platform to spew hatred and vitriol. I have met with Langara College leadership to express my concerns for the Langara and broader communities.”
Despite her anti-Palestinian racism and authoritarianism, Eby has rejected calls to remove Robinson from cabinet. Instead, the BC premier labelled Robinson’s comments “wrong” and “hurtful”, calling on her to reach out to communities harmed by her comments.
This is insufficient. Selina Robinson has lost all credibility as a defender of human rights for all. Her comments were not just “disrespectful” as she stated in her “apology”. They were racist and saturated with colonial thinking. She has demonstrated an authoritarian approach to silence critics of Israel, including firing tenured professors. She must be removed from cabinet.
Why is it taking so long for Eby to act?
Please take a minute to email BC Premier David Eby to call for Robinson’s removal.
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