Calls for Selina Robinson’s to step down from her Ministerial portfolio had been buzzing within the NDP caucus for months.
Readthemaple.com an online news website writes, “If the NDP cared about anti-Palestinian racism, Robinson would have been kicked out of the government, caucus and party months ago.”
The context of Ms. Robinson’s racist and discriminatory viatorial online was embedded in the DNA of the narratives that sought to justify ethnic-cleansing and genocide of the Palestinians from their land by their Zionist occupiers.
Since October 7th, Ms. Robinson had persistently perpetuated anti-Islam, anti-Palestinian, anti-genocide protesters, and hyper-colonial rhetoric, on her X account, openly advocating for settler colonial practices.
More than that, she seemed to have used her position as the Minister of Higher Education and Skills Training, to undermine educational independence of institutions to clamp down on pro-Palestinian voices on campuses.
An online journal, breachmedia.com states that “One week after UBC president met with the former minister Selina Robinson, the dean’s office asked the anthropology department to remove a statement on its website that expressed concerned with the genocidal violence in Gaza.”
In addition, “the heads of departments were also directed not to post any statements on the departmental websites on the topic that could be interpreted as political.”
Then there’s a case of termination of Langara College teacher, Natalie Knight an American of indigenous background. Who was suspended following a statement she made during pro-Palestine rally, at the Vancouver Art Gallery, on October 28th, 2023. An internal investigation by Langara cleared her of any wrongdoing, and she was reinstated on January 24th, 2024. The very next day she was terminated. Ms. Robinson had Tweeted, on January 25th, “I am disappointed that this instructor continues to have a public post secondary platform to spew hatred and vitriol. I have met with @Langaracollege leadership to express my concerns for the Langara and broader communities. They agreed that everyone deserves to feel safe.”
The three months of investigation was ignored, the exoneration was overturned. According to the news, Ms. Robinson intervened, she met with the Langara administration and demanded that she be fired. The FPSE called out her resignation immediately. The executive director of FPSE, Mr. Michael Conlon defended Ms. Knight’s rights to freedom of expression in her own time, and cannot be deemed as “hate crime,” and told the media that the college shared Ms. Knight’s private files with the minister.
Her comments on a Zoom forum, “Crappy piece of land,” describing Palestine before the Zionists occupation, was the cherry on the cake which she personally served to her critics. Thus, emboldening those voices who had been seeking her resignation for months.
She said the following in the video.
We have a whole generation and we know from the data that it's 18 to 34 year olds that have no idea about the Holocaust. They don't even think it happened. They don't even understand that Israel was was offered to the Jews who were misplaced, displaced.
So they have no connection to how it started. They don't understand that it was a crappy piece of land with nothing on it. You know, there were, you know, several hundred thousand people. But other than that, it didn't produce an economy.
It didn't have, it couldn't grow things. It didn't have anything on it. And that it was the folks who were displaced that that that came and the people who had been living there for generations. And together they worked hard and they had their own battles, right?
We know the history.”
These remarks were met with criticism, particularly from Palestinians and historians. The establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, marked the conclusion of British rule in Palestine. Before 1948, Palestine accommodated a diverse population of Arabs, Jews, and Christians, all sharing religious ties to the region, notably Jerusalem. Minister Robinson's comments overlooked this historical context, which is significant to various communities involved.
Local Mosques and Organizations finally echoed the call and joined other organizations in calling for her resignations after her “crappy” remark.
After a successful continued pressure from various groups Selina Robinson resigned on Monday, February 5th, 2024.