B'nai Brith and Mel Gibson.

Toronto -- The Human Rights League of B'nai Brith issues an annual report of the number of anti Semitic incidents in Canada. The reports also attempt to apportion blame for these phenomena. The 2004 Report gives as a first reason the reaction to events in the Middle East, notably tensions between Israel and Palestine. The second cause is given as the activities of Holocaust deniers and associated "white supremacist" groups. But then, as another reason, the Report also blames Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ. The National Post of March 19, 2005 noted that, "it stretches credulity" to believe that some people were motivated to acts of violence against Jews after viewing the Mel Gibson movie. As the editorial put it succinctly, "Those who walked out of The Passion hating Jews, walked in with the same animus.

In response, Frank Dimant, B'nai Brith Executive Vice President, who previously described the movie as just another in a "long list of anti-Semitic works," reiterates his claims (in a letter highlighted by the Post) that "Yes, you can blame Mel Gibson for creating a piece of work that has the potential to undermine intercommunity rapprochement post Vatican II. And yes, you can blame him for re-fashioning and re-invigorating anti-Semitic myths that have been the basis for hatred against Jews for millennia" (National Post, March 23).

Comment

1) For the record, despite criticisms of the film even by some Catholic academics, no incidents directly motivated by viewing this movie have been recorded anywhere in the world, even though it was seen by tens of millions of people.

2) B'nai Brith is a predominantly secular, rather than a religious, Jewish organization; Frank Dimant sets an anti-religious, specifically anti-Catholic, tone with his pronouncements, even though his letter did not vilify Catholicism by name.

3) When Mr. Dimant speaks of "myths," he, in fact, rejects history itself, including Jesus the God-Man, the Acts of the Apostles and other New Testament writings, and the theology of the Catholic Church. As long as this situation continues, 'rapprochement' will be slow in coming, if ever at all.