- NEW YORK (AP) -- A Jewish
civil rights organisation in the US expressed concern today that Mel Gibson's
film The Passion will fuel anti-Semitism by reinforcing a belief that Jews
were guilty of Jesus' death.
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- Rabbi Eugene Korn, a representative of the Anti-Defamation
League and head of the group's office on interfaith affairs, attended a
private screening of the film ñ about the final hours in the life
of Jesus Christ ñ at Houston's Museum of Fine Arts on Friday.
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- The ADL previously had not been allowed to see it.
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- "This is not a disagreement between the Jews and
Mr Gibson," Korn said.
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- "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."
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- Abraham Foxman, the ADL's national director, said: "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."
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- A telephone message left with a spokesman for Gibson
was not immediately returned.
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- 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".
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- Others who have seen the film have praised its beauty
and accuracy.
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- Ted Haggard, president of the National Evangelical Association,
has called it "the most authentic portrayal I've ever seen".
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- Gibson, the star of the blockbuster Lethal Weapon movies
and Oscar-winning director of Braveheart, has spent nearly $US30 million
($46 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.
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- Copyright 2003 News Limited.
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- http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6930669%255E1702,00.html
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