Christmas out. Palestine chants in.
Portland lit up its 75-foot Christmas tree Friday night — but you wouldn’t know it by name. Officials refused to call it a “Christmas tree,” scrubbing the word from the ceremony and program and instead referring to it only as “the tree.”
The 41st annual event kicked off with a speaker from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, who greeted the crowd on Native American Heritage Day.
Two younger members followed, calling it only “the tree lighting.” Not a single mention of Christmas. Then the ceremony took a hard turn.
A speaker draped in a Palestinian flag took the mic and led a political chant mere moments into the lighting ceremony: “This is the perfect time to bring this up. There are a lot of genocides going on. Can I get a ‘Free, free Palestine.’”
Some in the crowd joined in.
She then led the “Strong Woman Song,” performing with two children and another woman, saying it “felt appropriate since we’re representing our matriarchs up here.”
So what was missing? Christmas.
There was no reference to it anywhere — not from officials, not in the ads, not in the ceremony itself. But the city did manage to trot out a Santa Claus for photo ops and a “sing-along of holiday carols,” featuring “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “Deck the Halls.”
Nearly one hour into the event, Mayor Keith Wilson finally appeared, brought out Santa and city reps, and switched on the 10,000 bulbs covering the towering tree.
The tree — but not the Christmas tree.
Online, the blowback came fast:
“They can’t even say Christmas tree in Portland. They call it ‘the tree.’”
“WHY DOES everything have to be so DIVISIVE??!!”
“It’s a Christmas tree, it’s always been a Christmas tree, and it will always be a Christmas tree.”
“Just saw a Christmas parade in Texas and everyone was saying Merry Christmas. God bless Texas.”
Watch the clip below:
Meanwhile at last night’s Christmas tree lighting in Portland Oregon… pic.twitter.com/p5GnWPdU9j
— Conservative in Oregon (@oregonducksmama) November 30, 2025
More over at The New York Post:
Portland sparks outrage for city’s ‘tree’ lighting ceremony: ‘They can’t even say Christmas tree’ https://t.co/fU8tJL54JF pic.twitter.com/bOQ0AzUicl
— New York Post (@nypost) December 1, 2025
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