A far-right Polish lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the country's parliament on Tuesday during an event with members of the Jewish community, provoking outrage and leading the speaker to exclude him from the sitting.
WARSAW, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A far-right Polish lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the country’s parliament on Tuesday during an event with members of the Jewish community, provoking outrage and leading the speaker to exclude him from the sitting.
Footage posted on the website of private broadcaster TVN24 showed Grzegorz Braun of the Confederation party take the extinguisher before walking across the lobby of the parliament to where the candles were, creating a white cloud and forcing security guards to rush people out of the area.
Members of the Jewish community, including children, had gone to parliament at speaker Szymon Holownia’s invitation for its annual Hanukkah celebrations.
His Confederation party had been tipped to hold the balance of power after the Oct. 15 election after a campaign in which it focused mainly on economic issues and criticising the extent of Poland’s aid to Ukraine.
Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich told Reuters by telephone that Braun’s actions were not representative of the country and that he was “embarrassed” by them.
Cardinal Grzegorz Rys of Poland’s Catholic church said in a statement posted on social media platform X that he was ashamed of Braun’s actions.
The original article contains 493 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 60%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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WARSAW, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A far-right Polish lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the country’s parliament on Tuesday during an event with members of the Jewish community, provoking outrage and leading the speaker to exclude him from the sitting.
Footage posted on the website of private broadcaster TVN24 showed Grzegorz Braun of the Confederation party take the extinguisher before walking across the lobby of the parliament to where the candles were, creating a white cloud and forcing security guards to rush people out of the area.
Members of the Jewish community, including children, had gone to parliament at speaker Szymon Holownia’s invitation for its annual Hanukkah celebrations.
His Confederation party had been tipped to hold the balance of power after the Oct. 15 election after a campaign in which it focused mainly on economic issues and criticising the extent of Poland’s aid to Ukraine.
Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich told Reuters by telephone that Braun’s actions were not representative of the country and that he was “embarrassed” by them.
Cardinal Grzegorz Rys of Poland’s Catholic church said in a statement posted on social media platform X that he was ashamed of Braun’s actions.
The original article contains 493 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 60%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!