Why the hostility?

Oh, I don’t know–maybe it has something to do with 1,000 years of Jew hatred. I don’t like anti-Semites or those who excuse their behavior. It’s one of my “sensitivities.”

Do you just lump everyone who doesn’t agree with you in the category of “knowing next to nothing about anti-Semetism” [sic]

No, I don’t lump everyone in that category, just those who don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to anti-Semitism.

I don’t think its quite fair to say he is in the same league as his father just because he won’t speak out against him to the media.

Gibson fils is as much a Holocaust denier as his father. He’s learned to couch his phrasing more carefully than his dad. Do a search here on “Mel Gibson” & find the post I wrote about his comments about his father.

As far as I know, Mel himself has never come out and publicly stated that the Holocaust was fiction.

Yes, he’s come right up to the line but hasn’t crossed over. He’s one smart anti-Semite that one. He uses all the phrases of Holocaust deniers in talking about the event. He just hasn’t been explicit. But everyone who studies the Holocaust and Holocaust denial knows what the code words mean that he’s used.

Your view of the film is not the view of Jews who have seen it. Like Blacks criticizing media portrayals of their race, we Jews know when we are portrayed in an anti-Semitic way or in a way that encourages anti-Semitic stereotypes of Jews. And Passion is such a portrayal.

Mel is an ardent follower of Opus Dei, a group which yearns to return to the conservative theological & political past of the Church. One of those nostalgic yearnings is for the anti-Semitic notion that Jews killed Jesus. Saying that Jews caused all the world’s wars is of a piece with the notion that Jews killed Jesus.

In defending Mel, you’re fighting a lost cause I’m afraid.

You seem to beleive that Mel Gibson is as rabid in his anti-Semitism as his father. On what evidence is that based?

I would agree that Mel Gibson holds some anti-Semetic beliefs, but I don’t think its quite fair to say he is in the same league as his father just because he won’t speak out against him to the media. As far as I know, Mel himself has never come out and publicly stated that the Holocaust was fiction. Some try to point to his movie as an example of his anti-Semitism, but I would disagree. The movie simply lays some of the blame for the crucifixion on the Jewish elders – not all Jews in general. And the elders do deserved part of the blame. Does holding “someone” accountable for thier actions make one an anti-Semite is that “someone” happens to be Jewish?

He is certainly not his father when it comes to bigotry.

I absolutely don’t agree w. yr sentiment. I will not forgive him. Why should I? You’ll note that in his “apology” he neglected to apologize to the one group he most insulted: Jews.

If you don’t acknowledge that these views “reflect a deeply held anti-Semitism” then you know next to nothing about anti-Semitism.

As for his father, his father is an avowed Holocaust denier & Gibson has said he is certain that his father would never profess any idea that could be wrong or false. That makes Gibson either a Holocaust denier or a fellow-traveler.

So, Mel Girbson [sic] got drunk (again) and acted stupid (again). So, Ingrid Bergaman got pregnant with twins by someone not her husband.

Well, gee, those are exactly parallel moral faults now aren’t they? Adultery & anti-Semitism–equal sins in yr eyes. That’s rich.

You know nothing about anti-Semitism and that words like Gibson’s have been uttered fr. time immemorial by cretins from Roman proconsuls to Adolf Hitler (to Mel Gibson). And those words either precede or accompany vicious anti-Semitic acts. Words become deeds all to easily around issues like this. That’s why Jews are so sensitive. And that’s why you are absolutely clueless.

Now, are we going to throw Gibson’s talents down the drain?

‘We’ aren’t throwing his talents down the drain. He did that all by himself. ‘We’ didn’t force him to drink, we didn’t force him to speak hateful words. He made that choice himself & will live w. the consequences.

I’d encourage you to go on to whatever ‘more significant issues’ you have to deal with. But I & most of the rest of the human race are going to be concerned about this for at least a few hundred years or more until the hatred dies the death it deserves.

Mel is an excellent teacher.