Worries About Gibson Film Escalate
A forthcoming Mel Gibson movie about Jesus’ last hours of life is the focus of escalating concern among Jewish groups, which are stepping up their statements expressing worries that the project could revive dangerous notions of Jewish responsibility for Jesus’ death.
Citing a report on a draft of the film’s script by an embattled group of Catholic and Jewish scholars, the Anti-Defamation League said last week that it has “serious concerns” about Gibson’s movie, “The Passion.” It praised the 18-page report prepared by the ad hoc group of nine scholars, who, the ADL said, “unanimously agreed that the screenplay reviewed was replete with objectionable elements that would promote antisemitism.”
Gibson, for his part, has insisted that “neither I nor my film is antisemitic,” and his production company has lashed out at the scholars, insisting that the script they reviewed is outdated.
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