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A new memoir by former B.C. NDP minister Selina Robinson describes betrayal by her own party
Ten months after she was abruptly dismissed from her cabinet position within the NDP-led British Columbia government due to an offhand remark that angered pro-Palestinian groups, Selina Robinson is sharing her side of the story in Truth Be Told, a new book coming out Dec. 18 in Vancouver.
During a B’nai Brith webinar on Jan. 30 featuring Jewish public officials in Canada, Robinson, who at the time was B.C.’s minister of higher education and future skills and the most prominent Jewish politician in the province, lamented the lack of knowledge many people have regarding the Middle East and said Israel was founded on a “crappy piece of land.”
Reaction to those words would, within days, spread rapidly across social media, sparking outrage and threats against her. Robinson immediately apologized to Premier David Eby for her “sloppy language”, which, she said, was not meant in any way to be hurtful.
Eby responded, “Happens to the best. Hang in there.”
For a time, Robinson had been assured that Eby “had her back.” However, within a few days, as the crisis reached a fever pitch with thousands signing petitions calling for her resignation and B.C. mosques threatening to ban NDP MLAs from their premises, the premier, as Robinson sees it, cowered to the mob.
Though the behaviour of the provincial government, in her view, was anything but righteous—and the reaction from some sections of civil society straight-out antisemitic—it was the indifference of her colleagues that remains the most upsetting to Robinson.
“It was only when I sat down to reflect and think about what happened, the most painful part was the silence,” she told The CJN. “It was not the haters. It was not people who were saying that Zionism was evil and therefore Jews are evil.
“It was my colleagues who I thought were progressive, who were not living up to their progressive values. People who say they are progressive but do not stand up for the Jewish community are not progressive. This was the realization that could only come with time.”
When he announced her firing, Eby said Robinson should step away because of “the depth of the work” she needed to do to repair the damage she had done. That statement, she said, echoed in her mind for a long time.
“This book is that work,” said Robinson, who also wrote the book because she felt Canadians should have a better understanding of who Jews are.
The book itself begins in May, at the end of the provincial legislative session, as Robinson felt she had been presented with enough time to consider what had taken place three months earlier.
“I needed the time to make sense of what happened to me at the moment when I was being attacked by the haters, by the antisemites and the people who think they are representing those suffering in Gaza, when really all they are doing is hurting Jews in their community,” she said.
“At that time, I remember feeling, ‘You do not understand. I need to explain my side to you.’ My intent was never to hurt anybody, and I am being accused of all these terrible things that do not reflect who I am. Then to have my premier reflect their perspective was so hurtful—that he would believe that I would intentionally go out to hurt people like that in some way and not recognize what was actually happening.”
Perhaps the most stinging rebuke to Eby comes before the book begins. Robinson dedicates her work to former B.C. premier John Horgan, who died Nov. 12, and whom she refers to as “a friend, a leader and a mensch who understood and lived tikkun olam—making the world a better place.”
Robinson said she is confident that Eby’s predecessor would have handled the issue differently. As the provincial political crisis was unfolding in February, Horgan, then serving as Canada’s ambassador to Germany, called Robinson from Berlin.
“John was very hurt for me. He thought it was wrong. What was interesting about that phone call was that he had just gotten back from Dachau. He said, ‘What is happening is horrifying. I am horrified by what is happening to the Jewish community,’” said Robinson who served at various points as Horgan’s minister of municipal affairs and housing, citizens’ services, and finance.
“When I spoke to John, he said, ‘You apologized. It is time to move on.’ That’s not the position that David [Eby] took. And I did tell David that this is the wrong decision.”
Robinson—who, while serving in the NDP caucus, was known as the “Jew in the Crew”—has a cherished photograph of Horgan serving apples and honey to colleagues during a Rosh Hashanah event.
In the book, Robinson makes it clear that she sees herself as a progressive Jew, a Zionist and a believer in a two-state solution, in which Palestinians and Israelis can find self-determination, peace and fulfillment.
“I disagree with the current Israeli government’s policies and practices on many issues, including many of their actions in Gaza and the West Bank,” she writes. “I also disagree with the Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and the terrorist regimes in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere who seek to destroy Israel at the cost of the well-being of more Palestinian generations.
“Palestinians and Israelis both have the right to a homeland, to security and to live without fear. Both peoples need leaders with a vision for coexistence and peace.”
In this country, Robinson said she finds optimism in the knowledge that the vast majority of Canadians are supportive of the Jewish community and the State of Israel.
“We need to have people feel comfortable pushing back against hatred,” she said.
Jewish readers of the book, Robinson hopes, can derive comfort in the realization that they are not alone.
“We have all been in this together and we have to stick together and support each other. We need to give each other strength,” she said. “I am going to fight for the pluralistic Canada that gave my family refuge. I still believe that Jewish values are NDP values, but the NDP has turned on Jews.”
Well before the controversy erupted, Robinson had planned to retire after the provincial elections that were held in October. Though she presently does not know how it will take shape, she intends to continue fighting for the progressive values in which she strongly believes.
All profits from sales of Truth Be Told will go to advance coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians and fight antisemitism in Canada.
The post A new memoir by former B.C. NDP minister Selina Robinson describes betrayal by her own party appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Antisemitic Incidents at Argentina Local Soccer Match Spark Official Investigations, Condemnations
Fans of Argentinian soccer club All Boys marched through the streets before their match against Atlanta soccer club, carrying a coffin draped with an Israeli flag alongside Iranian and Palestinian flags. Photo: Screenshot
Argentinian authorities and soccer officials have launched investigations following antisemitic incidents by Club Atlético All Boys fans during Sunday’s local match against Atlanta.
Atlanta, a soccer team based in the Villa Crespo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, has deep historical ties to Argentina’s Jewish community, which has long been a significant presence in the area.
This latest antisemitic incident took place outside the stadium before the game had even started.
All Boys fans were seen waving Palestinian and Iranian flags, carrying a coffin draped with an Israeli flag, and handing out flyers bearing messages like “Free Palestine” and “Israel and Atlanta are the same crap.”
Before a football match today against the Argentine sports club Atlanta, which is closely associated with the Jewish community, fans of the opposing team, All Boys, waved Islamic Republic and Palestinian flags while parading a coffin draped in an Israeli flag through the streets.… pic.twitter.com/IQs4v6eoFz
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) June 29, 2025
Then, during the match — which ended in a 0-0 draw — a drone carrying a Palestinian flag flew over the stadium, while some fans reportedly chanted anti-Israel slogans.
Local police confirmed they have issued citations to individuals accused of inciting public disorder and related offenses.
On Monday, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) condemned the incidents as “abhorrent” and confirmed the organization has opened a formal inquiry into the events.
“This is not folklore. This is discrimination,” the statement reads.
Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich also announced that a criminal complaint has been filed, citing “acts of violence, expressions of racial and religious hatred, and public intimidation.”
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, condemned the incidents and called on both local authorities and the soccer officials to “take firm action against these acts of hatred.”
“We urge the authorities to take all necessary actions and apply the full force of the law,” the statement reads. “Violence and discrimination must have no place in our society.”
Repudiamos enérgicamente las expresiones antisemitas ocurridas hoy en las inmediaciones del estadio Malvinas Argentinas.
Exigimos a las autoridades correspondientes, a la AFA y al Club All Boys que actúen con firmeza ante estos hechos de odio.
La violencia y la discriminación no… pic.twitter.com/3AmY7IQscY— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) June 29, 2025
Since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Argentina has experienced a surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Jewish hate crimes.
According to a recent report by DAIA, Argentina experienced a 15 percent increase in antisemitic activity last year, with 687 anti-Jewish hate crimes recorded — up from 598 incidents in 2023 — marking a significant rise nationwide.
The study indicates that 66 percent of the antisemitic incidents originated in the digital realm, with a significant rise in Nazi symbols and conspiracy theories, but there was also a 34 percent increase in reported physical assaults, with such hate crimes rising in schools and neighborhoods.
The post Antisemitic Incidents at Argentina Local Soccer Match Spark Official Investigations, Condemnations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iranian nuclear program degraded by up to two years, Pentagon says
A satellite image of Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. Photo: File.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that US strikes 10 days ago had degraded Iran’s nuclear program by up to two years, suggesting the U.S. military operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public.
Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, offered the figure at a briefing to reporters, adding that the official estimate was “probably closer to two years.” Parnell did not provide evidence to back up his assessment.
“We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least intel assessments inside the Department [of Defense] assess that,” Parnell told a news briefing.
U.S. military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22 using more than a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles.
The evolving U.S. intelligence about the impact of the strikes is being closely watched, after President Donald Trump said almost immediately after they took place that Iran’s program had been obliterated, language echoed by Parnell at Wednesday’s briefing.
Such conclusions often take the U.S. intelligence community weeks or more to determine.
“All of the intelligence that we’ve seen [has] led us to believe that Iran’s — those facilities especially, have been completely obliterated,” Parnell said.
Over the weekend, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said that Iran could be producing enriched uranium in a few months, raising doubts about how effective US strikes to destroy Tehran’s nuclear program have been.
Several experts have also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes and could be hiding it.
But US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week he was unaware of intelligence suggesting Iran had moved its highly enriched uranium to shield it from US strikes.
A preliminary assessment last week from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested that the strikes may have only set back Iran’s nuclear program by months. But Trump administration officials said that assessment was low confidence and had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran’s nuclear program was severely damaged.
According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the strikes on the Fordow nuclear site caused severe damage.
“No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged,” Araqchi said in the interview broadcast by CBS News on Tuesday.
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Switzerland Moves to Close Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s Geneva Office Over Legal Irregularities
Palestinians carry aid supplies received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Switzerland has moved to shut down the Geneva office of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed aid group, citing legal irregularities in its establishment.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May, implementing a new aid delivery model aimed at preventing the diversion of supplies by Hamas, as Israel continues its defensive military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group.
The initiative has drawn criticism from the UN and international organizations, some of which have claimed that Jerusalem is causing starvation in the war-torn enclave.
Israel has vehemently denied such accusations, noting that, until its recently imposed blockade, it had provided significant humanitarian aid in the enclave throughout the war.
Israeli officials have also said much of the aid that flows into Gaza is stolen by Hamas, which uses it for terrorist operations and sells the rest at high prices to Gazan civilians.
With a subsidiary registered in Geneva, the GHF — headquartered in Delaware — reports having delivered over 56 million meals to Palestinians in just one month.
According to a regulatory announcement published Wednesday in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA) may order the dissolution of the GHF if no creditors come forward within the legal 30-day period.
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Swiss decision to shut down its Geneva office.
“The GHF confirmed to the ESA that it had never carried out activities in Switzerland … and that it intends to dissolve the Geneva-registered branch,” the ESA said in a statement.
Last week, Geneva authorities gave the GHF a 30-day deadline to address legal shortcomings or risk facing enforcement measures.
Under local laws and regulations, the foundation failed to meet several requirements: it did not appoint a board member authorized to sign documents domiciled in Switzerland, did not have the minimum three board members, lacked a Swiss bank account and valid address, and operated without an auditing body.
The GHF operates independently from UN-backed mechanisms, which Hamas has sought to reinstate, arguing that these vehicles are more neutral.
Israeli and American officials have rejected those calls, saying Hamas previously exploited UN-run systems to siphon aid for its war effort.
The UN has denied those allegations while expressing concerns that the GHF’s approach forces civilians to risk their safety by traveling long distances across active conflict zones to reach food distribution points.
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