The incident took place in Poland's lower house, the Sejm, on Tuesday afternoon, state news agency PAP reported.
Grzegorz Braun, an MP with the far-right Confederation party, took an extinguisher and walked across the lobby of the parliament to where the Hanukkah candles were, producing a white cloud, according to footage released by private broadcaster TVN24.
People nearby were covered in powder from the extinguisher as security guards rushed everyone out of the area, news outlets reported.
Braun then took to the parliamentary podium where he described the Hanukkah candles as "Satanic" and declared that he was restoring "normality."
House Speaker Szymon Hołownia excluded Braun from the sitting and said he would notify prosecutors about the incident; the Sejm Board later also imposed a maximum fine on the far-right MP, the PAP news agency reported.
'No tolerance for racism, xenophobia, antisemitism'
"There will be no tolerance for racism, xenophobia, antisemitism ... as long as I am the Speaker of parliament," Hołownia told the media.
Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich said that Braun's actions were not representative of the country and that he was "embarrassed" by them.
Schudrich said, as quoted by the Reuters news agency: "Someone extinguished the Hanukkah candles and a few minutes later we relit them."
He added: "For thousands of years our enemies have been trying to extinguish us, from the time of the Maccabees right through to Hamas. But our enemies should learn, they cannot extinguish us."
'I apologise to the entire Jewish community in Poland': Catholic cardinal
Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś of Poland's Catholic Church took to the X social media platform, saying in a statement he was "ashamed" of Braun's actions.
"I apologise to the entire Jewish community in Poland," the cardinal added.
Tuesday's incident happened as Poland's new Prime Minister Donald Tusk was answering MPs' questions ahead of a vote of confidence in his Cabinet, the PAP news agency reported.
Polish president wishes Jews a ‘Happy Hanukkah'
Polish President Andrzej Duda has sent greetings to members of his country’s Jewish community as it celebrates the holiday of Hanukkah.
Speaking during a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony at his presidential palace on Monday, Duda said the event was "an important part of the life, faith and tradition of our community," public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
"We have a great tradition of coexistence of nations, Polish and Jewish people, and alongside us, there are many others whose descendants are still among us today," Duda told the gathering.
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is observed for eight nights and days. This year it began at sunset on Thursday, December 7, and ends on Friday, December 15.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters
