I don't hate Jews and am not anti-Semitic. I fully blame the Palestinians for the lack of progress in Middle East peace. However, Christians are likely to become upset when they are falsely accused of anti-Semitism, which is what Foxman appears to be doing, and of accusing the Gospels of anti-Semitism for merely stating the fact that the Jewish establishment of Jesus' time did not like him and lobbied the Romans to put him to death. It is the injustice of Foxman's accusations excites the anger, not anti-Semitism.
We have never accused Gibson of being an anti-Semite. But judging from the E-mails and letters we have received since we spoke out after seeing the film last month - some blatantly anti-Semitic, many more suggesting our criticism was somehow dishonest - there is a need to clear the air.
First, let us repeat that we do not believe that Gibson intended his film to be a passion of hate. Our concerns stem from history. For nearly 2,000 years, Jews have been the victims of persecution and pogroms fueled by the age-old canard that Jews bear responsibility for the death of Jesus for all time. >
The charge of "deicide" or of Jews as being "Christ killers" has persisted through the presentation of Passion plays despite the Catholic Church's historic Vatican II pronouncement in the early 1960s. It denounced anti-Semitism and stated clearly that the Jews of the past, as well as the Jews of today, bear no responsibility for Jesus' death.