A rabbi lights candles of a menorah again after an incident in which a far-right lawmaker put out the candles, in Warsaw, Poland, on Tuesday, December 12, 2023. CZAREK SOKOLOWSKI /AP
Dec 12,
2023. Posted by Balkan
Periscope - Hellas
A far-right Polish
lawmaker on Tuesday, December 12, used a fire extinguisher to put out a
Hanukkah menorah placed in the parliament lobby, a stunt that saw him ordered
out of the assembly by Szymon Holownia, the speaker of Poland's lower house of
Parliament.
"This should have never happened," Holownia told reporters after expelling the lawmaker, Grzegorz Braun, to leave the plenary, adding that he would call for an investigation into the incident.
The ceremony for lighting
the nine-branched candelabrum was held in the Polish parliament to celebrate
the Jewish Festival of Lights, and was attended by rabbis and a Jewish music
band. In videos circulating on Polish media sites, Braun, a pro-Russian lawmaker
with the Confederation party, is seen dousing the menorah, filling the
parliament's main hall with fumes. Braun has in the past falsely claimed that
there is a plot to turn Poland into a "Jewish state."
"SHAME. A Polish
Parliament member just did this. Few minutes after we celebrated Hanukkah
there," Israel's ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne said on social media,
posting a video of the stunt.
Holownia, the parliament
speaker, said he ordered Braun to be temporarily barred from proceedings and
imposed fines on the ultranationalist lawmaker. "What happened is just
disgusting. This is a great Jewish holiday, these people were invited here,"
Holownia said, adding that "there will be no tolerance of
anti-Semitism" in the assembly. After the incident, the candles were lit
again.
Prime minister-designate
Donald Tusk denounced what he called an "unacceptable" act. "It
can't happen again, it's a disgrace," Tusk said as he waited for the
parliament to approve his pro-EU government, a vote now delayed amid the chaos
triggered by the incident, which was condemned by all parties except for the
Confederation.
In his inaugural address
to lawmakers – which was disturbed by the incident – Tusk vowed to restore
Poland's credibility in the bloc and urged the "free world" to show
firm support for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. "I can no longer listen
to some European politicians, from other Western countries, who speak of being
fatigued by the Ukraine situation," Tusk told the parliament. "The
attack on Ukraine is an attack on us all," he added, pledging to double
down on efforts to help Kyiv "from day one."
Tusk also promised to end
the stalemate at Poland's border with Ukraine where Polish truckers have been
blocking checkpoints and demanding the reintroduction of entry permits for
their Ukrainian competitors.
Tusk additionally
expressed a vote of confidence in the European Union. "We are all the
stronger, all the more sovereign when not only Poland is stronger but also the
European Union," Tusk told lawmakers. Finally, Tusk also presented his
roster of ministers. Poland's former top diplomat Radoslaw Sikorski is to make
a comeback and lead the foreign ministry again.
Le Monde