WOJTEK RADWANSKI / AFP
Employees of the Polish Parliament clean up after the action of the right-wing extremist MP Grzegorz Braun.
POLAND – A “disgrace” in the heart of the Polish Parliament. This Tuesday, December 12th, a right-wing extremist MP emptied a fire extinguisher onto a menorah, a seven-branched candlestick symbol of Judaism. The menorah was lit in the presence of Jewish personalities on the occasion of the celebrations of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.
The MP's gesture was immediately condemned by Donald Tusk. “Something unacceptable happened that should never happen again, it's a shame,” the Polish prime minister told the press. The President of Parliament expelled Grzegorz Braun for this act, a “slap in the face for the Polish Parliament”. “As long as I am president, there will be no tolerance for anti-Semitism, for deviance and for racism,” thundered Szymon Holownia, interrupting the debates.
As you can see below, footage of the incident shows Grzegorz Braun spraying the menorah as the room fills with a cloud of foam.
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After a meeting of the parliamentary presidium, Szymon Holownia stated that the MP had received the highest financial sanctions and that a lawsuit would be filed against him in court. He specified that the MP, who had already attacked a Holocaust historian last May, faced a prison sentence of up to two years.
The majority of political groups, including the populist nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS), condemned this act. ” Shame! A member of the Polish Parliament just did this. “A few minutes after we celebrated Hanukkah there,” said Israeli Ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne on social networks.
The Lower House of Parliament debated Prime Minister-elect Donald Tusk's morning keynote speech. She must carry out the almost guaranteed vote of confidence in her pro-European government, ending eight years of populist-nationalist power in Poland.
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