Polish parliament relights Hanukkah candles extinguished by far-right MP
Hanukkah candles were relit again in the Sejm, lower house of Polish parliament on Thursday after a far-right lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put them out two days earlier.
Grzegorz Braun, from the hard-right Confederation party, caused chaos and uproar in the main hall of the parliament building on Tuesday when he targeted the menorah's candles, which had been lit to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
After the incident, the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, called on the Sejm speaker, Szymon Holownia, for Hanukkah candles to be lit again, and a new Menorah lighting ceremony was held on Thursday afternoon, attended by President Andrzej Duda and speakers of both parliamentary houses.
"This is a symbol of our history...Jewish history,...Polish history. This is not the only time in history when someone tried to extinguish our light, but Polish and Jewish history will always light candles again. They cannot extinguish us because we stand together," Rabbi Schudrich said at the ceremony. (PAP)
mr/jd/mf
