2023-12-12 21:05:14
A far-right Polish MP, Grzegorz Braun, emptied a fire extinguisher on a menorah, the seven-branched candlestick symbol of Judaism, in Parliament on Tuesday, December 12, an act immediately condemned by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
“An unacceptable thing happened. It’s a shame “Donald Tusk told reporters as Parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia excluded Grzegorz Braun, an MP from the far-right Konfederacja party, from a parliamentary meeting.
A complaint soon to be filed
The menorah was lit in Parliament on the occasion of the celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah (Festival of Lights), in the presence of Jewish personalities. In video images reported in Polish media, Grzegorz Braun is seen dousing the menorah and filling a hall of parliament with a cloud of fire extinguisher foam. The president of the Diet (lower house) condemned a “slap in the face for the Polish Parliament”.
“As long as I am president of the Diet, there will be no tolerance for anti-Semitism, for deviations and for racism”thundered Szymon Holownia who interrupted the debates.
After a meeting of the Presidency of Parliament, Szymon Holownia indicated that Grzegorz Braun had received maximum financial sanctions and that a complaint against him would be filed in court. He said the MP could face a sentence of up to two years in prison.
Attack on a Holocaust historian in May
” Shame ! A member of the Polish Parliament just did this. A few minutes after we celebrated Hanukkah there”, indicated the Israeli ambassador to Poland, Yacov Livne, on social networks, publishing a video of Grzegorz Braun extinguishing the menorah. The majority of parliamentary groups, including the populist nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, condemned this act.
The lower house of Parliament was debating the morning policy speech delivered by Prime Minister-elect Donald Tusk. In the afternoon, she must carry out a vote of confidence, almost guaranteed, in her pro-European government, which puts an end to eight years of populist nationalist power in Poland.
In May, Grzegorz Braun attacked Polish-Canadian Holocaust historian Jan Grabowski, a professor at the University of Ottawa, with a microphone during a conference in Warsaw.
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