Gibson film called 'disturbing setback' to Christian-Jewish relations

After months of concern that an upcoming movie on the death of Jesus would revive anti-Semitism, two prominent Jewish groups have given two strong thumbs-down to Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."

In separate rebukes Thursday, officials from the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) accused Gibson of blaming Jews for the crucifixion, despite promises that he would "soften" the story to be sensitive to Jewish concerns.

"Its portrayal of Jews is painful to watch," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the ADL, who viewed the film "in stealth mode" at a conference for evangelical pastors in Orlando, Fla.

Foxman said that despite Gibson's assurances, the film portrays Jews as an unsympathetic, blood-thirsty mob intent on killing Jesus.

"At every single opportunity, Gibson's film reinforces the notion that the Jewish authorities and the Jewish mob are the ones ultimately responsible for the crucifixion."

David Elcott, the interreligious affairs director for the American Jewish Committee (AJC), saw the film at a church outside Chicago and said the film is a "disturbing setback" to Christian-Jewish relations.

"The film reasserts offensive stereotypes about Jews that Catholic and Protestant leaders have overwhelmingly rejected," he said.

Gibson's $30 million film, scheduled for release Feb. 25 — the Christian observance of Ash Wednesday — has received wide acclaim from evangelical Christian groups and conservative Catholics who have been invited to private screenings.

An Associated Press report from the Orlando screening said the invited clergy had to sign a form promising not to say anything negative about the film.

But Gibson has refused to show the film to his Jewish critics and staunchly defended charges that either he or the film is anti-Semitic.

Last year, the film's marketing director said Foxman had been "dishonorable" in his critiques.

A spokesman for Gibson's Icon Productions film company said a response to the AJC and ADL statements was being prepared, but could not say when it would be released.

Gibson belongs to a small, ultraconservative Catholic sect that does not accept the Second Vatican Council, held from 1962-65, that made overtures to Jews and formally dismissed the notion that Jews were responsible for Jesus' death.

Foxman said the film "time and time again" shows Jews as inflicting "enormous suffering" on Jesus, especially Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest, while the Roman authorities who executed him are sympathetic, almost reluctant.

"Had Gibson portrayed this as his interpretation, his version, fine," Foxman said in an interview. "But he's not. He's portraying it as the gospel truth, the historic truth, as fact."

Rabbi A. James Rudin, the senior interreligious affairs adviser for the AJC, who recently saw the film, is particularly concerned about a scene taken from the Gospel of Matthew — which was not in earlier versions of the film — where the Jewish mob shouts, "let his blood be upon us and upon our children."

Elcott said Gibson still has time to make changes before the film's debut. He also said Gibson's version of events is a challenge for Christians who have worked to heal centuries of anti-Semitism.

"It isn't just about Jewish-Christian relations alone," he said in an interview. "The name of God is being invoked for enormous violence and hatred in the world, and our goal ... is to mobilize as many people as possible to speak the name of God for goodness and justice."