Posted on 02/25/2004 6:20:30 PM PST by Hal1950
Shas chairman MK Eli Yishai on Wednesday called for Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" movie to be banned from Israeli cinemas, calling it a blood libel.
In the U.S., the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement saying that the film "repeats all of the stereotypes and myths surrounding the death of Jesus that have accompanied anti-Semitism for the last 2,000 years. Regretfully, Gibson refused all of our attempts for a dialogue aimed at preventing this harm to Jews."
ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said he was troubled by Gibson's claim of historical accuracy. "He made his choice," Foxman told a news conference after viewing the film. "And it's to blame the Jews."
"The Passion," which depicts in gruesome detail the final hours of the life of Jesus, premiered in the U.S. and other countries Wednesday, but not in Israel.
Jewish and other religious groups in Manhattan planned protests for Wednesday. Amcha, The Coalition for Jewish Concerns, planned to wear concentration camp uniforms at a New York theater to link the film's portrayal of Jews to the sort of hate that led to the Nazi Holocaust.
"The whole thing is a blood libel," said Yishai, from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, using a term that refers to a medieval slur that Jews used the blood of Christians to make unleavened bread for the Passover festival.
However, it appeared unlikely that the film would be banned. Few films have been barred in recent years, and the ones to be forbidden are usually pornographic. The Israeli film board, which makes these decisions, could not be reached for comment.
Yishai said the belief that the Jews had killed Jesus had led to "millions" of Jews being killed and persecuted in the last two millennia.
"This libel used to spread by word of mouth. Now the media are spreading it," Yishai told AP. "We should not accept this."
Yishai said he had also appealed to the Foreign Ministry to try to encourage other governments to bar the film.
Jewish leaders have said that the movie gives a harsh portrayal of Jews and blames them for death of Jesus. They have warned it could lead to a rise in anti-Semitism. Gibson, who also funded and co-scripted the film, denies that charge.
New York Cardinal Edward Egan, meanwhile, wrote to parishes to stress Jews were not responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.
"He gave His Life for us," Egan wrote in a column to appear in next month's issue of Catholic New York. "No one took it from Him. This is, and has always been, Catholic doctrine.
Atos
btw... Excellent tagline!
As it brought out the Abe Foxman crowd.
I think maybe most Christians - not to be confused with anti-Semites - just get tired of being told we have to keep our Lord in the closet. Please forgive us if it's a little frustrating.
You clearly don't have the first clue about what Jews want, or what Judaism is about. I recommend educating yourself more, and embarrassing yourself less by doing so.
Posts like that are painful to read.
I am sure you know of this, but I wrote it for others to see.
As I mentioned above, the reason he won't tell you has to do with what else you'll find on the websites he is quoting, which also peddle white supremacy and Nazism.
One of the more prominent sources of this sort of "Talmudic scholarship" is Michael A. Hoffman II, whose website Campaign for Radical Truth in History, bills itself as "Your source for suppressed information on Judaism's strange gods, secret societies and psychological warfare and radical history."
His "definitive work" on the Talmud, The Truth About the Talmud, has been used as a source for other "Talmudic scholars" associated with white supremacy groups like Aryans Nations and various neo-Nazi, anti-Jewish social clubs, who distribute his and other works intended to "expose the Jewish conspiracy".
Guillermo, instead of telling you his source directly, suggests searching the Internet. On that point, I agree. You probably should have a better idea of where he is getting his information, and thus better understand why he is injecting it into this thread.
I encourage anyone following this little subtopic of the thread to see for themselves what I am talking about. A Google search of the terms "talmud truth jesus" is a good starting point.
For some specific links demonstrating what I am talking about, see the following:
Resistance Records: Hidden Facts
Stormfront.Org: The Truth about the Talmud
These are just the barest sampling, as even a casual search will reveal.
You'll notice Guillermo has, so far, not disputed what I posted above. I doubt it's due to an oversight, but acknowledge the possibility (it's a busy thread) and urge him to prove me wrong -- I would very much prefer to be wrong about this, believe me.
The whole subject turns my stomach, but I refuse to ignore it, because it's real, these people are real, their websites are real, and they are spreading their "truth" as I write this, and as you read this, and it is right here in this thread.
As painful history has demonstrated time and again, when people tell you who they are, it's best to listen to them.
Now that dynamic has changed though, and it's been changing for a while because misuse and/or overuse devalues all.
With the widespread viewing of this movie, and from the tenor of most of its reviews, the charge that this movie is anti-semitic is false.
As a consequence, Foxman, who has been the ring leader here, has devalued the epithet of anti-semite enormously. Because now he's the man who not only cried, but flailed wolf, and continued, and continued to flail wolf. He's now like Jesse Jackson when he cries racism. He's hurt his cause immeasurably, but he's too paranoid to know it or care, I guess.
Couple that with the fact that you had a protester in NYC dressed in Holocaust garb (according to an article posted here yesterday) implying that this movie was the equivalent of that which led to Aushwitz (sp?) and/or Aushwitz itself.
I understand the fear and the paranoia that persecution can cause, but these instances that I've referenced indicate a derangement.
It wouldn't surprise me at all, if instead of some act of violence purpetrated against a Jewish person, one is purpetrated against Gibson and/or someone in his family.
Let's hope this ugliness catches a glimpse of itself and fades away.
On reflection, I do believe that church leaders believed that Salvation was the most important thing, eclipsing all other considerations.
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