Eby defends NDP against antisemitism allegations
Premier says he will `examine' Robinson's concerns and decision
Premier David Eby has rejected calls for an independent investigation into antisemitism within the B.C. NDP caucus and the B.C. public service after allegations made by former cabinet minister Selina Robinson.
Robinson made the bombshell accusations Wednesday in a letter to her NDP colleagues, detailing statements and actions made by NDP MLAs she said were antisemitic and influenced her decision to leave the party and sit as an Independent.
Eby was asked several times if he believes there's antisemitism within the B.C. NDP.
“Even though I disagree with Selina's characterization of a number of my colleagues in this letter, who fight every day to fight racism and discrimination, I have to accept as a leader, that as a Jewish woman with these unique experiences in our caucus, she didn't feel safe,” Eby told reporters in the legislature.
“She didn't feel safe with me to bring forward her concerns and she felt she had to resign. So I'll examine that.”
Robinson was forced to resign from cabinet on Feb. 5 after backlash over controversial statements she made during an online forum in late January that Israel was founded on a “crappy piece of land with nothing on it.”
In the letter, Robinson told the NDP caucus “you broke my heart” by not standing with her after the public backlash to the comments and also for the limited support among caucus members to join her at a vigil after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas that killed 1,200 Israelis.
“This is not the party I signed on with — it has become a party that is afraid to stand with people, people who were hurting. It is now a party that puts politics and re-election before people,” she wrote.
Robinson outlined several examples where NDP MLAs made comments that were offensive to the Jewish community. She said those MLAs apologized and were allowed to carry on with their work, but she was forced to resign, which represents a double standard.
“Antisemitism is silencing an openly identified Jewish person who is speaking out about antisemitism.
“Your collective decision to silence me is antisemitism and you don't even know it.”
She ended the letter with: “Silence is not leadership — it's cowardice. And I cannot be silent.”
B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon called on the premier to launch an independent inquiry “to root out the systemic antisemitism that has been confirmed to exist in his government and his caucus.”
Eby did not commit to launching a wider investigation, simply saying he will “reflect” on the issues raised by Robinson.
B.C. United released a list of incidents involving anonymous government employees they say points to systemic antisemitism within the public service. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs provided the list to the premier's office on Feb. 6.
For example, some government employees were upset that hanging in the coffee area were pro-Palestinian posters that talked about the resistance and advertised rallies. Another Jewish employee was asked not to wear their Star of David necklace in a visible way in online meetings “as it may make my colleagues of colour uncomfortable because it is a symbol of genocide.”
Environment Minister George Heyman, who is Jewish and the child of Holocaust refugees who survived because his grandmother was smuggled out of the Warsaw Ghetto, told reporters in Victoria Thursday “it's simply not my experience” that there is antisemitism within the B.C. NDP caucus.
Asked about the examples cited by Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Heyman said it's “absolutely, unequivocally unacceptable” for an employee to be asked to take off a Star of David necklace.
Heyman, who described himself as a non-practising Jew, said he doesn't deny Robinson's interpretation of her experience, but he disagrees “that our caucus members or cabinet members are antisemitic.”
He took issue with B.C. United MLA Michael Lee calling Robinson the “single ally for the Jewish community in the fight against antisemitism in this government.”
Heyman said he's been “accused of being antisemitic for making statements about how I felt about certain actions of the Israeli government.”
He said being critical of the actions taken by the Israeli government “is not in and of itself antisemitism.”
“If it's expressed in terms of hatred, or generalization or mischaracterization of all Jews, of all Israelis as being guilty of something, that is antisemitism,” said Heyman. “But I've never, ever experienced that in my colleagues.”
Eby said he met with Robinson Wednesday to ask about the progress in her anti-Islamophobia training, which she committed to taking to repair the harm caused by her comments.
Robinson did not tell Eby during that meeting about her intentions to leave caucus, instead breaking the news through the media Wednesday afternoon.
Eby said it's “humbling” to realize Robinson didn't feel comfortable enough with him to raise her concerns.
“As a leader, for me it's a real day for examination of what the opportunities were, where I could have potentially intervened and address some of the concerns Selina had,” he said.
Eby said he had previously scheduled a meeting for today with Jewish leaders through the rabbinical council and he will discuss the issues raised by Robinson.