Anti-Semitism: Far-right Polish lawmaker empties a fire extinguisher on a menorah [Vidéo]

“Something unacceptable has happened. It’s unfortunate,” new Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters as Parliament Speaker Simon Holonia excluded Gregors Braun, an MP for the far-right Confederaja party, from a parliamentary meeting.

The menorah was lit in Parliament on the occasion of the celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah (Feast of Lights), in the presence of Jewish figures. In video footage published by Polish media, Brown was seen extinguishing the candlestick and filling the parliament hall with a cloud of fire extinguisher foam. The Speaker of the Parliament (Lower House) condemned the “slap in the face of the Polish Parliament.”

A complaint has been filed

“As long as I am the Speaker of Parliament, there will be no tolerance for anti-Semitism, perversions and racism,” shouted Holonia, who interrupted the discussions.

After a meeting of the Presidency of Parliament, Holonia indicated that Brown had received the maximum financial penalties and that a complaint would be filed against him in court. He said the deputy could face up to two years in prison.

“Shame! A member of the Polish Parliament just did this. A few minutes after we celebrated Hanukkah there,” Israeli Ambassador to Poland Yaakov Levin posted on social media, posting a video of Brown blowing out the menorah.

The majority of parliamentary groups, including the populist nationalist Law and Justice Party, condemned the action.

The lower house of Parliament was discussing the morning political speech by Prime Minister-elect Donald Tusk. In the afternoon, she must hold an almost guaranteed vote of confidence in her pro-European government, bringing an end to eight years of populist nationalist power in Poland.

In May, Grzegorz Brown attacked Polish-Canadian Holocaust historian Jan Grabowski, a professor at the University of Ottawa, with a microphone during a conference in Warsaw.