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By Thomas Kika
Weekend Staff Writer
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A far-right politician in Poland railed against "satanic" Jewish people after using a fire extinguisher on a Hanukkah display in the country's parliament building.
The incident took place at approximately 5 p.m. local time in the Polish capital of Warsaw. A large menorah had been set up in the parliamentary building to celebrate the Jewish holiday. As seen in videos circulating online, Grzegorz Braun, a Polish MP and member of the far-right Konfederacja party grabbed a fire extinguisher and used it to put out candles on display, prompting the current government session.
Braun followed up the incident by calling Judaism a "satanic cult" after onlookers in the building told him, "You should be ashamed."
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"Those who take part in acts of the satanic cult should be ashamed," Braun said.
Szymon Hołownia, speaker of the Sejm Polish parliamentary chamber, confirmed in the aftermath of the incident that a complaint has been filed against Braun with the prosecutor's office. It has been reported that he will be excluded when the Sejm resumes its current session.
Newsweek reached out to the office of the Polish prime minister via email for comment. Attempts to reach Braun's office for comment were unsuccessful.
In the wake of the incident, Braun said that he was inviting his fellow lawmakers to take part in a "theological" debate and characterized his actions as "spontaneous." He also took to his official account on X, formerly Twitter, sharing a post from another account decrying the presence of Jewish iconography in the parliament building and spreading an antisemitic conspiracy theory about Jewish people controlling the Polish government.
Numerous figures and groups have come forward to denounce Braun's actions, including his own Konfederacja party, which released a statement online saying that it "condemns" his actions. Donald Tusk, the incoming Polish prime minister who had delivered a speech just prior to Braun's actions, also released a statement calling the MP's behavior "unacceptable."
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"This is unacceptable," Tusk said. "This can't happen again. This is a disgrace."
Rafał Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw, called Braun's actions "scandalous."
"There is no place for anti-Semitic attacks neither in the Polish parliament nor in Poland in general," Trzaskowski said. "I trust that the prosecutor's office will think similarly."
Mark Brzezinski, the United States ambassador to Poland, also released a statement decrying the incident.
"I am outraged by the nasty antisemitic act committed today by one of the Polish members of parliament," Brzezinski said. "The United States stands against anti-Semitism and this outrageous act must be condemned in the strongest possible terms."
Update 12/12/23, 2:05 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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