Christmas trees at Sea-Tac airport

The local news headline is “Airport Christmas Trees Removed” 10:54 AM PST on Sunday, December 10, 2006, By KIM HOLCOMB / KING 5 News

She wrote, “SEA-TAC Airport - All 15 Christmas trees inside the terminal at Sea-Tac have been removed in response to a complaint by a rabbi. A local rabbi wanted to install an 8-foot menorah and have a public lighting ceremony. He threatened to sue if the menorah wasn’t put up, and gave a two-day deadline to remove the trees.”

I heard a radio interview this morning, and discovered that there was a big misunderstanding and this story distorts the truth. There is a man named Mitchell who works at Sea-Tac as a full-time consultant to the airport administration. Mitchell is not a rabbi, and it was Mitchell who asked the airport to install a menorah in late October. He explained that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that both Christmas trees and menorahs are sufficiently secular to be displayed in public places. According to Mitchell and his rabbi, many public facilities in the Seattle area already have both, and Sea-Tac airport is the largest public facility in Washington State, and it did not have any menorahs. Mitchell did not want the trees removed; in fact, Mitchell would like to see them returned even if the menorah is not installed this year. Neither Mitchell nor the rabbi “threatened to sue,” but the rabbi did send a document to the airport administration showing the legal justification for installing a menorah. Neither Mitchell nor the rabbi “gave a two-day deadline to remove the trees.” Both Mitchell and his rabbi were saddened at the decision to remove the trees, and stated that they were not a part of that decision, nor had they spoken with any news reporters since the error-filled story broke.