Jewish groups decry Robinson's cabinet exit, as Eby slams 'hateful messages' on constituency office

B.C. Premier David Eby has criticized what he's calling the "hateful messages" posted on and around the constituency office of former minister Selina Robinson that came after she resigned from his cabinet over remarks that angered pro-Palestinian groups and others.

Her exit on Monday has been decried by Jewish groups, but wasn't enough to satisfy some of her critics.

Video posted to social media Tuesday morning showed the office covered in protest signs and chalk messages.

The messages were removed by Tuesday afternoon.

"Selina Robinson's office was vandalized last night, which included hateful messages," Eby said in a message posted on X, formerly Twitter, the same social media platform where the video of the office in Coquitlam, B.C., was shared.

"This is wrong. Peaceful protest cannot include spreading hate."

Robinson, who is Jewish, stepped down as post-secondary education minister on Monday following a sustained outcry over her comments last week that modern Israel was founded on "a crappy piece of land."

She announced her resignation from cabinet after critics called her comments racist and Islamophobic. Robinson and Eby said she would remain in the NDP caucus.

The resignation comes amid ongoing tensions and global protests over the Israel-Hamas war, in which thousands have died since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took another 250 hostage.

Officials at Robinson's constituency office were not immediately available for comment.

Robinson's exit from the NDP cabinet has caused deep concerns from some members of B.C.'s Jewish community who said they had lost an advocate who admitted her mistake and was willing to make amends.

Robinson apologized twice in the days before her resignation, saying "my words were inappropriate, wrong and I now understand how they have contributed to Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism."

But it didn't quell the criticism, or save her place in the cabinet.

Nico Slobinsky, Pacific vice-president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said Robinson's removal undermined the Jewish community's confidence in B.C.'s government and signalled that Jewish leaders were held to different standards than others.