Selina Robinson apologizes after inaccurate Israel comments

B.C.’s Post Secondary Education Minister Selina Robinson has apologized after she made inaccurate comments about the history of Israel.

In a panel discussion hosted by Jewish organization B’nai Brith on Tuesday, Robinson claimed that before Israel was settled by the modern population it was just a “crappy piece of land with nothing on it.”

“There were, you know, several hundred thousand people but other than that, it didn’t produce an economy,” she said. “It couldn’t grow things. It didn’t have anything on it.”

SFU professor and Middle East expert Adel Iskandar called her comments factually wrong, noting the region’s history of human civilization and agriculture.

He said the idea that nothing was on the land before the British mandate that proposed the Jewish settlement in the mid 20th century is a “fundamentally colonialist narrative.”

Adding the land has a rich history that includes important contributions from Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

“There’s absolutely no history book that would affirm Minister Robinson’s articulation of that period in time,” Iskandar told The Leader Spirit. “Obviously it was not a ‘crappy piece of land.’ It is the land that has had over 15,000 years of human inhabitability.”

In response to Robinson’s claim that nothing grew on the land that’s now Israel, Iskandar says that is easily countered, with the land bearing fruit, olive groves, and many other agricultural ventures.

In a statement posted on X, Robinson said she regrets her comment and apologizes “without reservation.”

“I want to apologize for my disrespectful comment referring to the origins of Israel on a ‘crappy piece of land,’” she said. “I was referring to the fact that the land has limited natural resources. I understand that this flippant comment has caused pain and that it diminishes connection Palestinians also have to the land.”

Iskandar says Robinson’s comments have made him wonder how she approaches the idea of Truth and Reconciliation here in the Lower Mainland.

“We’re still reckoning with Truth and Reconciliation, but fundamentally, there’s no such thing as reconciliation without truth,” he said. “We must first confound ourselves and be steeped in these truths and recognise them for what they are.”

Robinson is also facing backlash for her alleged involvement in the termination of Langara College instructor Natalie Knight, after Knight spoke at an off-campus rally and praised the “determination and ingenuity” of six Palestinian political prisoners who had escaped from Gilboa prison in Israel. Langara announced Jan. 26 that Knight was no longer employed with the school. The Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC (FPSE) and Canadian Association for University Teachers (CAUT) are now calling for Robinson’s resignation after she “inappropriately intervened” in the termination, saying Knight was cleared by the school’s Academic Freedom Committee and her remarks were Charter-protected.

“The Minister continued to press for her termination,” said Michael Conlon, executive director of FPSE. “The notion that a Minister would intervene directly with a college and call for the termination of a tenured faculty member is highly inappropriate and unprecedented. We will assist the Langara Faculty Association in grieving this unjustified termination.”

The Leader Spirit has reached out to Robinson’s office for comment.