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Poland’s ‘Most Notorious Antisemite’ Wins European Parliament Seat
Antisemitic Polish MP Grzegorz Braun is seen moments after extinguishing a Hanukkah menorah in the Polish parliament. Photo: Screenshot
A virulently antisemitic member of the Polish parliament who extinguished the candles of a lit Hanukkah menorah with a fire extinguisher last December has won a seat in the European Parliament elections, riding a wave of far-right success across the continent.
Grzegorz Braun is a candidate for Confederation (Konfederacja), a Polish far-right party with an antisemitic and anti-Ukraine political stance. The party received 12.1 percent, coming in third place, by far its best showing ever.
According to exit polls, the far-right party was the most popular choice among young voters in Poland, receiving 31 percent of votes from those aged 18 to 29.
“Grzegorz Braun is the most notorious antisemite in Polish politics today and one of the most active antisemites in Europe,” said Rafal Pankowski, executive director of “Never Again,” the leading Polish anti-racist association. “As an MP for the far-right Confederation Party he is also known for extreme anti-Ukrainian and anti-LGBT statements. His words and actions legitimize and incite violence against minorities. He must be held accountable and he must not be given a platform to continue promoting hatred.”
The antisemitic incident occurred last year in a hallway of the Sejm, Poland’s legislative assembly, where a menorah was on display celebrating the annual Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Braun grabbed a fire extinguisher to spray the menorah, filling the area with smoke. Dozens of people who attended the candle lighting ceremony, including several children, were immediately evacuated by security officers.
Warsaw, Poland – Right wing MP Grzegorz Braun, who has a history of eccentric behavior against the Jewish community, takes a fire extinguisher to a Hanukkah menorah inside Poland’s parliament.
Imagining trying to celebrate your holiday and this happens.
pic.twitter.com/4TO4s3xHja
— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) December 12, 2023
Braun was promptly thrown out of the parliament by speaker Szymon Holownia, who promised a formal investigation into the incident. “There will be no tolerance for racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, and any other deviations as long as I am the Speaker of the Sejm,” he later said.
Braun also launched into an antisemitic rant after attacking the menorah, telling those who berated him that they were the ones who should feel “ashamed to participate in the acts of a Satanic Talmudic cult.” He then doubled down with a post on X/Twitter that declared, “There can be no place for acts of racist, wild, Talmudic worship on the premises of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland!”
One reporter who witnessed the incident was adamant that Braun had planned his act in advance. “I had the impression that from the beginning he knew when he was grabbing the fire extinguisher what he wanted to do. He had it planned in some way,” said Sebastian Napieraj, a reporter with broadcaster TVN24. “There was a film crew with him who filmed it all.”
The post Poland’s ‘Most Notorious Antisemite’ Wins European Parliament Seat first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Kurdish-led SDF Say Five Members Killed During Attack by Islamic State in Syria
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The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Sunday that five of its members had been killed during an attack by Islamic State militants on a checkpoint in eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zor on July 31.
The SDF was the main fighting force allied to the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated Islamic State in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The Islamic State has been trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia. Deir el-Zor city was captured by Islamic State in 2014, but the Syrian army retook it in 2017.
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Armed groups attacked personnel from Syria’s internal security forces in Sweida, killing one member and wounding others, and fired shells at several villages in the violence-hit southern province, state-run Ekhbariya TV reported on Sunday.
The report cited a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where factional bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month.
Violence in Sweida erupted on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops in the name of the Druze.
The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had long-standing tensions over land and other resources.
A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to investigate the attacks.
The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region.
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Netanyahu Urges Red Cross to Aid Gaza Hostages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he spoke with the International Red Cross’s regional head, Julien Lerisson, and requested his involvement in providing food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza.