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It still seems to come back to a type of projection...they are hurt by their own unnecessary fears. Rather than by Christians or the Passion. Yes, we can have compassion for that, but it is based upon emotion, not logic.

Largely, I agree. I comment, however, on your #4: They could accept [Christians professing their own faith that humanity is responsible], without accepting the divinity of Christ personally. They could at least accept what Christians say about the Christian religion.

My theory is that those who cannot accept #4 believe they are taking Christians on their actions, not their words. And there are different versions of history in play here. There is a version of history that says, for example, Passion plays whipped Hitler's Germany into genocidal frenzy.

"Passion plays whipped Hitler's Germany into genocidal frenzy"

weelll that would be an unfortunate oversimplification of a very complex situation; in any case, the Holocaust, Hitler, the Nazis, et al have been discredited and soundly denounced by just about everyone on the planet since 1945. Justifiably so.

The thing about the Passion, is that it is central to the Christian faith. It is not an optional thing that can be dropped or glossed over in the name of Jewish-Christian friendship. To ACCEPT the conclusion that re-enactments of the Passion are inherently anti-Semetic would be to demand the castration of Christianity. Christians are not going to accept that. ;)

But as several posters have pointed out, a starting point is to understand why the other reacts as he does . . .