Annual Christmas Tree Display Banned in Brussels

Government officials in Brussels, Belgium banned Wednesday a popular Christmas tree exhibit out of concerns that the local Muslim population found it “offensive.”

• An “electronic winter tree,” will take the place of the traditional Christmas Tree. The electronic sculpture will stand 25 meters (82 feet) tall and consists of a set of television screens, reports Brussels Expat. “
• Many cities in Belgium have thriving Muslim populations. A 2008 study showed Muslims make up 25.5-percent of the population of Brussels, 3.9-percent of Flanders, and 4.0-percent of Wallonia.

Christmas 2012 : this electronic sculpture replaced the traditional Christmas tree

An “electronic winter tree,” will take the place of the traditional Christmas Tree and Nativity scene at the city center of Grand Place, reports Brussels News.

City councilwoman Bianca Debaets points to the fact that the display not be referred to “Christmas” in any way to make her point.

“I suspect that the reference to the Christian religion was the decisive factor” in replacing the tree, she told reporters. “For a lot of people who are not Christians, the tree there is offensive to them.”


Brussels Christmas Market
A centerpiece of Christmas in Brussels is the Christmas Market, which features 240 exhibitors from all over Europe who sell wares from wooden chalets around the Grand Place and in Place St. Catherine.