• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

ADL Voices Concerns on Gibson's 'Passion'

Posted on: Monday, 11 August 2003, 06:00 CDT

The Anti-Defamation League expressed concern on Monday that Mel Gibson's "The Passion" will fuel anti-Semitism by reinforcing a belief that Jews were guilty for Jesus' death.

An ADL representative, Rabbi Eugene Korn, the head of the group's office on interfaith affairs, attended a private screening of the film - about the final hours in the life of Jesus Christ - at Houston's Museum of Fine Arts on Friday. The ADL previously had not been allowed to see it.

"This is not a disagreement between the Jews and Mr. Gibson," Korn said. "Many theologically informed Catholics and Protestants have expressed the same concerns regarding anti-Semitism and that this film may undermine Christian-Jewish dialogue and could turn back the clock on decades of positive progress in interfaith relations."

Said Abraham Foxman, the ADL's national director: "We are deeply concerned that the film, if released in its present form, will fuel the hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism that many responsible churches have worked hard to repudiate."

A telephone message left with a spokesman for Gibson was not immediately returned.

But Gibson said in a statement in June that he is not anti-Semitic and that his intention was "to create a lasting work of art and engender serious thought among audiences of diverse faith backgrounds (or none) who have varying familiarity with this story."

Others who have seen the film have praised its beauty and accuracy.

Ted Haggard, president of the National Evangelical Association, has called it "the most authentic portrayal I've ever seen."

Gibson, the star of the blockbuster "Lethal Weapon" movies and Oscar-winning director of "Braveheart," has spent nearly $30 million of his own money to produce, co-write and direct the film, starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene. Filmed entirely in Aramaic and Latin, it has yet to secure a distributor.

More News in this Category