Portland’s Lighting Ceremony Sparks Controversy
Portland stirred up quite a bit of anger by referring to a longstanding tree simply as “the tree” during its lighting event.
Thousands gathered at Pioneer Courthouse Square for the 41st annual tree lighting on Friday night, aiming for peace in the city. Interestingly, leaders and speakers deliberately avoided using the word “Christmas,” both in the ceremony and in promotions for the event.
The celebration kicked off with members of the Warm Springs Confederated Tribes expressing gratitude to the audience on Native American Heritage Day.
One speaker, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, led the crowd in chants of “Liberate Palestine,” making a strong political statement right after the ceremony commenced. She remarked, “This is the perfect time to bring this up. There’s a lot of genocide going on.”
“Can we have a ‘free, free Palestine?'” she shouted, with some audience members appearing to respond. Following this, she performed a “Strong Woman Song,” joined by her children and another woman, stating, “This felt appropriate because we’re representing the matriarchs here.”
While the event seemed to lack the typical Christmas spirit found elsewhere in the U.S. during this season, there was an attempt to include Santa Claus, who posed for pictures and led families in holiday carols like “I Heard the Voices of the Angels.”
About an hour into the ceremony, Mayor Keith Wilson invited Santa and city leaders to turn on the 10,000 lights on the 75-foot-tall tree.
The ceremony appeared to proceed without any major issues, yet online criticism soon followed.
One user noted on X, “You can’t even call it a Christmas tree in Portland. They call it a ‘tree.'” Another lamented, “Why does everything have to be so divisive??!!”
“It’s a Christmas tree. It’s always been a Christmas tree and always will be a Christmas tree,” asserted one more. Another person commented on their experience from Texas, saying, “I saw a Christmas parade in Texas and everyone was saying Merry Christmas. God bless Texas.”
