Coquitlam-Maillardville MLA Selina Robinson has announced her decision to leave British Columbia's NDP caucus, citing internal party antisemitism.

Robinson, a Jewish woman battling cancer, initially joined the B.C. legislative assembly as part of the NDP in 2013.

In her letter released on March 6, she accused the B.C. NDP of antisemitism, and offered her resignation from the party. She declared her intention to remain an independent MLA until the upcoming October election. However, she will not seek re-election.

MLA Selina Robinson says she was a “lone voice” within BC’s NDP caucus willing to speak up against Jew hatred.

But I thought Premier Eby and his NDP were committed to a “truly inclusive” BC?!

Click link to read Robinson’s letter to Eby https://t.co/TOPGbew0Pu pic.twitter.com/P0urc6MDHv

— Drea Humphrey - Prepping and Politics (@DreaHumphrey) March 7, 2024

"I can't continue being the only voice speaking up against antisemitism and Jew-hatred," Robinson stated in an interview, raising concerns about no longer being at the cabinet table. 

Robinson resigned from her post as post-secondary education minister last month after pro-Palestinian groups pressured her following remarks they deemed as racist and Islamaphobic. Robinson said that modern Israel was founded on "a crappy piece of land." 

Although she apologized for her remarks, Robinson has claimed that she has continued to receive hateful messages, including death threats.

According to Robinson, this isn't the first time that her colleagues have “intentionally or unintentionally said antisemitic things.” Still,in the past, her colleagues apologized, and she accepted. This time, Robinson said, “that hasn’t been the case in my case.”

In a letter to B.C.’s NDP premier, David Eby, Robinson expressed shock and heartbreak at the actions of her colleagues who condemned or refused to show solidarity with Jewish Canadians after the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, in Israel. The attack, the single largest against Jews since the Holocaust, left 1200 dead and 240 kidnapped. 

NEW- Here is the letter Selina Robinson has sent her colleagues in caucus. #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/hvMPwMxB9b

— Richard Zussman (@richardzussman) March 7, 2024

The contents of Robinson’s letter describe a deep hypocrisy in the party’s mission to support a “truly inclusive British Columbia” and debunked the party’s claim it believes that BC is “stronger when everyone is truly free to be who they are."

Robinson's letter noted the evolving relationship between Israel and Canada, influenced by left-wing political shifts, and draws parallels to the treatment of former federal Green Party leader Annamie Paul, who was criticized for her support of Israel.

Read the entire resignation letter here: