March 12, 2003To: The New York Times Magazine Letter
to the Editor WE are concerned that
Mel Gibson's cinematic attempt to
portray the suffering of Jesus and
the crucifixion in his new film, "The
Passion," could call up a dangerous
anti-Semitic canard that has for centuries
been used to validate the persecution and
wanton killing of Jews. ("Is the Pope
Catholic Enough?" Mar. 9) The centuries-old charge of deicide
against Jews, simply put, that "the Jews
killed Christ," has been discredited by
history and unequivocally rejected by the
Roman Catholic Church in the 1965 Vatican
proclamation, "Nostra Aetate."  | Website
note: Abraham Foxman,
wealthy and controversial chief
of the Anti Defamation League,
likes to refer to himself as a
"Holocaust survivor." As a
biography
on this website shows, he was not
even born when Hitler invaded his
native Poland, and he was looked
after by Polish Catholics
throughout the war; his parents
also "survived". |
Yet the deicide charge against Jews still
has staying power among fringe movements
and even in some mainstream segments of
the Catholic Church. A film graphically
portraying the life of Christ, one that
aims to lay the blame for the death of
Christ "where it belongs" -
code words
for deicide - could turn back the clock on
decades of interfaith work toward mutual
respect and understanding, work that has
been championed by Pope John Paul
II and prominent Jewish and Catholic
leaders.Just what is "the truth" that Gibson
wishes to tell? Christian Scriptures
themselves relate conflicting accounts of
the death of Jesus. The truth is always in
the eye of the beholder. The danger is
that an old-style retelling of Christ's
passion, given the imprimatur of a
high-profile and iconic Hollywood
celebrity like Mel Gibson, could serve as
a toxic recipe for religious hatred. Sincerely, Abraham H.
Foxman
National
Director -
Dossier on the
Anti-Defamation League
|
write to David
Irving