- Yasser Arafat has watched Mel Gibson's film The Passion
of the Christ with a top aide, who compared Jesus' pain during crucifixion
to Palestinians' suffering in the conflict with Israel. Nabil Abu Rdeneh,
one of Arafat's closest advisers, watched the film along with the veteran
Palestinian leader and a group of American and European Christians and
Palestinian Muslim clerics today.
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- "The Palestinians are still daily being exposed
to the kind of pain Jesus was exposed to during his crucifixion,"
Abu Rdeneh said afterward.
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- Arafat, who watched the film on a small TV set in his
Ramallah office, said the movie was "historic and impressive".
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- The visiting Christians, Anglicans and Protestants, were
from the United States, Canada and Britain, said Palestinian lawmaker Hannan
Ashrawi, who also viewed the film. Arafat's office did not identify the
delegation.
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- Gibson's film graphically depicts Christ's final hours.
The film has been a huge box office success, bringing in hundreds of millions
of dollars in its first two weeks in theatres in the United States and
Canada.
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- But it has sparked controversy, and some Jews have said
the movie will fuel anti-Semitism because it unfairly portrays Jews as
the main force behind Jesus' crucifixion. Other critics have said the film
is overly violent.
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