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Calif. Rabbi Says 'Passion' Already Fueling Hatred
Tue August 12, 2003 03:46 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mel Gibson's new film "The Passion" has already unleashed a wave of anti-Semitism in the United States despite the fact that it won't be released for months, a Jewish leader said on Tuesday.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Reuters the Jewish human rights organization had received dozens of hate calls and letters prompted by a handful of private screenings and advance publicity about the movie.
"The Passion," is Gibson's depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and events leading up to it. It has raised concern that it might portray Jews as collectively guilty for Christ's death. The film is not scheduled for general release until early next year.
Representatives of the Anti-Defamation League saw the movie in a private screening and the League said on Monday that if it was released in its present form it could "fuel the hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism that many responsible churches have worked hard to repudiate."
"The Passion" was shot in Italy and contains dialogue only in Latin and Aramaic. Gibson, a traditionalist Roman Catholic who directed and co-wrote the film, has denied intending to fuel anti-Semitism.
"Mel's interest is just the opposite, as he has stated previously, that this film is about love, hope, faith and forgiveness," Gibson's publicist, Alan Nierob, told the entertainment trade paper Hollywood Reporter this week.
But Hier said the bigotry had already started, and that the Simon Wiesenthal Center had received hate mail from people who had seen or heard about the movie, and who accused Jews of killing God's son, praised Adolf Hitler and made veiled threats against the center and Jews collectively.
"Are there any manifestations of hate so far? The answer is an unequivocal yes," Hier said. "We have had hate mail in the past ... But never in spurts like this."
Hier cited one writer who praised Hitler as "much kinder to the Jews than I would have been," and signed his letter "a very concerned American, name withheld for fear of retaliation by you Jewish scumbags."
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this worries me,....
Tue August 12, 2003 03:46 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mel Gibson's new film "The Passion" has already unleashed a wave of anti-Semitism in the United States despite the fact that it won't be released for months, a Jewish leader said on Tuesday.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Reuters the Jewish human rights organization had received dozens of hate calls and letters prompted by a handful of private screenings and advance publicity about the movie.
"The Passion," is Gibson's depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and events leading up to it. It has raised concern that it might portray Jews as collectively guilty for Christ's death. The film is not scheduled for general release until early next year.
Representatives of the Anti-Defamation League saw the movie in a private screening and the League said on Monday that if it was released in its present form it could "fuel the hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism that many responsible churches have worked hard to repudiate."
"The Passion" was shot in Italy and contains dialogue only in Latin and Aramaic. Gibson, a traditionalist Roman Catholic who directed and co-wrote the film, has denied intending to fuel anti-Semitism.
"Mel's interest is just the opposite, as he has stated previously, that this film is about love, hope, faith and forgiveness," Gibson's publicist, Alan Nierob, told the entertainment trade paper Hollywood Reporter this week.
But Hier said the bigotry had already started, and that the Simon Wiesenthal Center had received hate mail from people who had seen or heard about the movie, and who accused Jews of killing God's son, praised Adolf Hitler and made veiled threats against the center and Jews collectively.
"Are there any manifestations of hate so far? The answer is an unequivocal yes," Hier said. "We have had hate mail in the past ... But never in spurts like this."
Hier cited one writer who praised Hitler as "much kinder to the Jews than I would have been," and signed his letter "a very concerned American, name withheld for fear of retaliation by you Jewish scumbags."
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this worries me,....