ADL Angry with Mel Gibson's Re-release

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is still angry with Mel Gibson for his movie "The Passion of the Christ" and issued a press release Tuesday blasting the actor for re-releasing the film.

In the recut of his film "The Passion of the Christ," now in theaters, Mel Gibson removed six minutes of violence.

But the ADL says Gibson "chose to leave untouched the anti-Jewish elements of the original, including scenes where Jews are portrayed as villains and responsible for the death of Jesus."

The ADL said it "expressed concern that the newly released film, 'The Passion Recut,' will now become the definitive version of the Passion story for the holy season."

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director, charged that "it is troubling that Mel Gibson made changes to 'The Passion of the Christ' to de-emphasize the violence, yet made no effort to mitigate or remove the film's anti-Jewish elements."

"In a world where anti-Semitism is on the rise and the classical canard that 'the Jews killed Jesus'" is being promulgated, Mr. Gibson has unfortunately become a contributor," Foxman said.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.