Polish Sejm Incident Sparks Debate Over Hanukkah Ceremony
A spokesperson for Confederation, Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik, criticized the idea of supporting Jewish celebrations while casualties in the Palestinian civilian population are being reported. She spoke on TVP Info, referencing an event in which Hanukkah candles were extinguished during a Sejm ceremony by MP Grzegorz Braun.
During the ceremony on Tuesday, Braun used a powder fire extinguisher to put out the Hanukkah candles lit on the Sejm stage. He then returned to the podium as the meeting was chaired by Konfederacja Deputy Marshal Krzysztof Bosak. The session was subsequently taken over by Marshal Szymon Hołownia, who excluded Braun from the proceedings and announced that a complaint would be filed with prosecutors for disrupting a religious ceremony. Hołownia also disclosed that the Presidium of the Sejm had punished Braun with a temporary loss of half his salary for three months and a reduction of his full allowance for six months. Reports on Wednesday stated that Braun had been suspended from the Confederation Club and barred from addressing the chamber’s podium.
The Left Club filed a motion to dismiss Bosak from the position of deputy chairman, arguing that allowing Braun to speak after the incident enabled an anti-Semitic address. The Left asserted that Bosak’s inadequate response prompted Hołownia to intervene to take control of the proceedings.
The Warsaw Public Prosecutor’s Office began ex officio proceedings related to Tuesday’s events in the Sejm, with participation by a member of the Sejm.
“We condemn this type of behavior.”
In a TVP Info interview, Confederation’s spokesperson was asked about whether Braun should face harsher consequences for his actions. The spokesperson stated that the group has made clear its stance against such behavior. Hanukkah candles should not be extinguished with a fire extinguisher inside the Sejm; they could be extinguished by other means without presenting a danger.
She questioned why Hanukkah is celebrated inside the Sejm at all, noting that the practice began seventeen years ago. She referenced a former Polish president, Lech Kaczyński, in making the point that there was no similar display within the Sejm in the past, unlike the Knesset where there is no distribution of host or nativity scene.
She commented that Jewish celebrations should not be supported while actions abroad are perceived as harming civilians. The spokesperson described perceived inconsistencies in positions within the leadership, pointing to what she called a separation of church and state, and then describing a seeming approval of the Hanukkah event in the Sejm. She also criticized what she described as hypocrisy from the left, now defending Hanukkah in the Sejm in large numbers.
Regarding Braun’s suspension from the Confederation Club, the spokesperson stated that no external force would dictate the club’s composition, asserting resistance to what she described as blackmail in the current moment. She claimed Bosak faces pressure related to his appearance at Hanukkah candle lighting because, in her view, a Catholic cannot be compelled to join Jewish celebrations.
Her remarks closed with a reaffirmation of the group’s stance and a reiteration of the internal process for handling Braun’s status within the party.
[Citation: wPolityce]
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[End of source: wPolityce]