Mel Gibson Film Sparks Controversy

The Anti-Defamation League expressed concern on Monday that Mel Gibson's "The Passion" will fuel anti-Semitism by reinforcing a belief that Jews were guilty for Jesus' death.

An ADL representative, Rabbi Eugene Korn, the head of the group's office on interfaith affairs, attended a private screening of the film - about the final hours in the life of Jesus Christ - at Houston's Museum of Fine Arts on Friday. The ADL previously had not been allowed to see it.

"This is not a disagreement between the Jews and Mr. Gibson," Korn said. "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."

Said Abraham Foxman, the ADL's national director: "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."

A spokesman for Gibson, Alan Nierob, said his client's intent was to combat hatred, not fuel it.

"Neither he nor his film are inspired by anti-Semitism, and he will continue to do whatever he can to combat hatred and bigotry," Nierob said. "Mel Gibson, for his whole life and career, has been vehemently opposed to anti-Semitism and hatred of others."

Others who have seen the film have praised its beauty and accuracy.

Ted Haggard, president of the National Evangelical Association, has called it "the most authentic portrayal I've ever seen."

Gibson, the star of the blockbuster "Lethal Weapon" movies and Oscar-winning director of "Braveheart," has spent nearly $30 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.

By Lukas I. Alpert