CONEY ISLAND The scholars also voiced worries that Gibson might weave together the most anti- Semitic portions of the gospels into his film. By editing the gospels into a single montage, Cunningham said, "you end up with a multiplication of anti-Jewish elements that ends up being more powerful than any one gospel would have been." "It takes enormous sensitiv- ity to strip" the gospels "of anti-Semitic teachings," Rudin added. Fears that the film relies on anti-Semitic sources echo the controversial recent report by the panel of Catholic and Jewish scholars, who now are blasting the U.S. Conference Mel Gibson, bottom center, directs Jim Cavieze4 of Catholic Bishops for wash- as Jesus, in Rome on the set of "The Passion." ing its hands of the study and leaving them "high and dry." ing some of his killers and describing In a strongly worded letter to the scenes of Jesus' crucifixion as more bishops requesting a meeting with "brutal" than those in the New William Cardinal Keeler of Baltimore, Testament, Cunningham said. the Rev. Lawrence Frizzell and Mary Rabbi James Rudin, another expert Boys said one of the panelists received on Catholic-Jewish issues, said this "four vicious, anti-Semitic letters" and material had served as the "toxic" harassing phone calls, apparently from source for centuries of anti-Semitic Catholics. passion plays. "It seems that at least supporters of Rudin likened such "extra-biblical" Mel Gibson are quite content to view a material to Jewish midrash, or post- film that portrays the Jews as implaca- biblical analysis. ble, violent enemies of Jesus of "It's all midrash. If Gibson uses that Nazareth," they wrote. as kosher, then he is really going The U.S. Conference of Catholic against the authorized Catholic teach- Bishops declined to discuss the matter ing of the Vatican," Rudin said. "To further until the film appears. use that is distortion and dangerous." Meanwhile, Hier, who wrote an op- The scholars are equally troubled by ed about the film in the Los Angeles references to Mary of Agreda, who Times last week, said he had urged blames Jews throughout the ages for Gibson to meet with him and others to Jesus' death. discuss their concerns. Hier cites a passage from her writing Gibson's spokesman likened such that refers to Jews, saying: 'Although calls to censorship. they did not die, they were chastised "Are they filmmakers? Do they want with intense pain. These disorders con- to tell him how to make this film?" sequently, upon shedding the blood of Nierob asked. "They can make a film Christ, descended to their posterity if they want to." and even to this day continue to afflict Hier, in fact, is a filmmaker: The this group with horrible impurities." Wiesenthal Center won an Academy Such attitudes had a direct influence Award in 1997 for the Holocaust doc- on modern anti-Semitism and even on umentary The Long Road Home, which the Holocaust, said Father Michael he co-produced. Cooper, director of the Center for Hier insisted that his aim was only Catholic-Jewish Studies at St. Leo to discuss with Gibson concerns about University in Florida. the film's story. Nierob, Gibson's spokesman, said he He pointed out that he had consult- had "never heard" of Emmerich or ed on other films, including the recent Mary of Agreda. He also questioned TV miniseries Hitler: The Rise of Evil. criticism of Emmerich. At his urging, Hier said, the filmmak- "Is everything she wrote anti- ers tacked on a series of documentary Semitic?" he said. Holocaust images after the film. • Homemade Soups & Salads • Coney Specials • Greek Specialties • Omelettes • Daily Lunch & Dinner Specials • Homemade Sandwiches vet 6.4 Detroit Comerica Park Stadium Birmingham 154 S. Woodward Ave. Bloomfield Twp. 6527 Telegraph Rd. Canton 1735 Canton Center Rd. Ann Arbor 1235 S. University 2044.14:404 Farmington Hills 30985 Orchard Lake Rd. (between 13 & 14 Mile Rd.) Millennium Park (Middlebelt & 1-96) West Bloomfield Plymouth 4763 Haggerty Rd. (Pontiac Trail & Haggerty Rd.) 3999 Center Point Parkway 26540 Ford Rd. (The Heights Plaza) ommerce Commerce & Carrol Lk. Rd. 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