Gibson arrest sparks new accusations of anti-Semitism

[AlonzoMourning23]

The arrest of Mel Gibson for drunk driving prompted renewed accusations on Sunday that the Oscar-winning director and actor harboured anti-Semitic feelings.

Gibson, whose controversial 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ" was a major hit, was arrested in the early hours of Friday morning for allegedly driving his 2006 Lexus at 87 mph (140 kph) along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, the beach town north of Los Angeles.

Celebrity Web site TMZ.com posted portions of what it called the arresting deputy's original report, which said Gibson was abusive, shouted anti-Jewish slurs and boasted that he "owned Malibu."

The TMZ report quoted Gibson as saying, "F..... Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." He then asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"

Gibson issued a statement on Saturday in which he apologised for driving while drunk and for his "belligerent behaviour" towards the Los Angeles County deputy sheriffs who arrested him.

In his statement the 50-year-old actor said he has "battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse."

He added: "I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable."

The Anti-Defamation League said in a statement on Sunday that Gibson's response was "unremorseful and insufficient" and that his tirade "finally reveals his true self."

Many Jews and others were upset that "The Passion of the Christ" revived ancient Christian accusations that Jews bore responsibility for Jesus' death.

"It's not a proper apology because it does not go to the essence of his bigotry and his anti-Semitism," said ADL national director Abraham Foxman.

"We would hope that Hollywood now would realise the bigot in their midst and that they will distance themselves from this anti-Semite," he said.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday that a civilian committee overseeing the sheriff's department would investigate whether officers tried to cover up Gibson's behaviour and statements to save the star from embarrassment.

Gibson rocketed to fame in the late 1970s in the movie "Mad Max" and scored huge box office hits playing a cop in the "Lethal Weapon" movies.

In 1995, he acted in and directed "Braveheart," about 13th century Scottish rebel William Wallace. The movie earned 10 Oscar nominations and won five of the top film awards, including directing for Gibson and best picture of the year.


http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1106172006

[Nathan Brazil]

The Jews ARE responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus, if it happened at all. They asked Rome to intervene, did they not?

I've seen the movie. Excellent film, if a wee bit overboard on the whipping scene. The film was close enough to the mythology in the Bible to make anyone happy, I suppose. IMO, the hooply was about the ADL and etc trying to score points off someone else's work.

It's just another Hollywood DUI. I figure a guy that turned a $300,000,000 profit on one movie can afford to buy the best judge in town.

As for the alleged anti-semitic slurs? Anyone got a video of it? If not, I'd take the tale with a grain of kosher salt if I were you. Besides, it's a free country, he should be able to denigrate any group he wants.

[AlonzoMourning23]

The jewish leaders wanted to get rid of him because they didn't want to provoke aggression from Rome, and the leaders likely thought it was blasphemy as well. Jesus himself seems to have desired a confrontation with them. Pilate was bloodthirsty to begin with, later he was actually forced to return to rome due to his ruthlessness. He would have had no qualms about killing him.

But, also, the fear of roman authorities made it dangerous to place too much blame on rome in scripture.

Though I find it interesting that you just dismiss gibsons remarks, remarks he did not dispute and (albeit weakly) apologized for.

[dsanthony]

The arrest of Mel Gibson for drunk driving prompted renewed accusations on Sunday that the Oscar-winning director and actor harboured anti-Semitic feelings.

Gibson, whose controversial 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ" was a major hit, was arrested in the early hours of Friday morning for allegedly driving his 2006 Lexus at 87 mph (140 kph) along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, the beach town north of Los Angeles.

Celebrity Web site TMZ.com posted portions of what it called the arresting deputy's original report, which said Gibson was abusive, shouted anti-Jewish slurs and boasted that he "owned Malibu."

The TMZ report quoted Gibson as saying, "F..... Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." He then asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"

Gibson issued a statement on Saturday in which he apologised for driving while drunk and for his "belligerent behaviour" towards the Los Angeles County deputy sheriffs who arrested him.

In his statement the 50-year-old actor said he has "battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse."

He added: "I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable."

The Anti-Defamation League said in a statement on Sunday that Gibson's response was "unremorseful and insufficient" and that his tirade "finally reveals his true self."

Many Jews and others were upset that "The Passion of the Christ" revived ancient Christian accusations that Jews bore responsibility for Jesus' death.

"It's not a proper apology because it does not go to the essence of his bigotry and his anti-Semitism," said ADL national director Abraham Foxman.

"We would hope that Hollywood now would realise the bigot in their midst and that they will distance themselves from this anti-Semite," he said.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday that a civilian committee overseeing the sheriff's department would investigate whether officers tried to cover up Gibson's behaviour and statements to save the star from embarrassment.

Gibson rocketed to fame in the late 1970s in the movie "Mad Max" and scored huge box office hits playing a cop in the "Lethal Weapon" movies.

In 1995, he acted in and directed "Braveheart," about 13th century Scottish rebel William Wallace. The movie earned 10 Oscar nominations and won five of the top film awards, including directing for Gibson and best picture of the year.


http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1106172006




I know you liberals (think you) are pure and that the sun shines out of your arse. I'd love to see and hear somethings you've done and said while drunk and then pass judgement on your life based on that.

All mercy for a murderer. None for one who holds views that might be hereticial to the liberal dogma.

[dsanthony]

The jewish leaders wanted to get rid of him because they didn't want to provoke aggression from Rome, and the leaders likely thought it was blasphemy as well. Jesus himself seems to have desired a confrontation with them. Pilate was bloodthirsty to begin with, later he was actually forced to return to rome due to his ruthlessness. He would have had no qualms about killing him.

But, also, the fear of roman authorities made it dangerous to place too much blame on rome in scripture.

Though I find it interesting that you just dismiss gibsons remarks, remarks he did not dispute and (albeit weakly) apologized for.


By your standard then, Alec Baldwin, the "liberal lion" of hwood is a woman-hating drunk. Wasn't he up on charges for beating his wife, Kim Basinger, a few years ago? I'm always reminded when I hear Jackson Browne whining about liberal causes that his main hobby was beating Darryl Hannah about the face. Of course, both Basinger and Hannah are probably just coked-up Hollywood trash themselves.

Remove not the mote in another's eye....

[dsanthony]

The Jews ARE responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus, if it happened at all.Â*Â*They asked Rome to intervene, did they not?

I've seen the movie.Â*Â* Excellent film, if a wee bit overboard on the whipping scene.Â*Â*The film was close enough to the mythology in the Bible to make anyone happy, I suppose.Â*Â*IMO, the hooply was about the ADL and etc trying to score points off someone else's work.

It's just another Hollywood DUI.Â*Â*I figure a guy that turned a $300,000,000 profit on one movie can afford to buy the best judge in town.Â*Â*

As for the alleged anti-semitic slurs?Â*Â*Anyone got a video of it?Â*Â*If not, I'd take the tale with a grain of kosher salt if I were you.Â*Â*Besides, it's a free country, he should be able to denigrate any group he wants.Â*Â*


SInce the topic of Jesus, Jews and Romans was brought up.

I think (if Jesus lived) the story of his execution was altered by later generations for political reasons. If Jesus was executed, it was by the Romans for political causes. They saw him as just another Jewish rabble-rouser, who were a dime a dozen in Palestine.

Jesus was a Jew and lived among the Jewish community. Almost (if not all) his followers were Jews. Indeed, after his death his earliest followers followed Jewish laws while they waited for Jesus' return.

I think the blaming of the Jews was a later invention. As Christianity grew throughout the Roman Empire, Roman began converting to Christianity. To keep from drawing unfavorable attention from Rome, Christians decided to blame the Jews, rather than Rome, for Jesus' death.

And, as the myth of Jesus grew from a Jewish messiah to a pagan "Christ" figure, the animosity of the Jews probably did increase. There is nothing blasphemous about messainic claims. Indeed there have been many who claimed (or were pronounced by others) to be the messiah in Jewish history. The pagan idea of "christ", the son of god, is antithetical to Jewish belief and would have been considered blasphemy.

[AlonzoMourning23]

By your standard then, Alec Baldwin, the "liberal lion" of hwood is a woman-hating drunk. Wasn't he up on charges for beating his wife, Kim Basinger, a few years ago? I'm always reminded when I hear Jackson Browne whining about liberal causes that his main hobby was beating Darryl Hannah about the face. Of course, both Basinger and Hannah are probably just coked-up Hollywood trash themselves.

Remove not the mote in another's eye....

Wait, you're attacking me because I have a problem with Nathan's dismissals of comments like "F..... Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."?

And, while I don't follow celebrities much, if Alec Baldwin beat his wife then he should be in jail. I can't say he hates women, but I can say that it's a horrible thing to do, he should be arrested, and such actions should be condemned outright.

The only point of having hollywood people supporting causes is because people like them, and it gets good PR. I pay no attention to them myself, and really don't give a damn what they think. If I like their work I buy it, I don't give them any credibility though.

[dsanthony]

I pay no attention to them myself, and really don't give a damn what they think.

If that were true, you would not have started this thread.

[AlonzoMourning23]

The very next line clearly indicates what I mean by that:

If I like their work I buy it, I don't give them any credibility though.

Mel Gibson has gained some political clout due to the passion of the christ. He had been accused of anti-semitism, despite protests from his supporters.

I don't get concerned about something because madonna promotes it, I don't change my view, or consider changing my view, because of what tom hanks says. That's my point. But if you have a large following because of some movie you made that had cultural and political ramifications, then that's something different.

[Nathan Brazil]

The jewish leaders wanted to get rid of him because they didn't want to provoke aggression from Rome, and the leaders likely thought it was blasphemy as well. Jesus himself seems to have desired a confrontation with them. Pilate was bloodthirsty to begin with, later he was actually forced to return to rome due to his ruthlessness. He would have had no qualms about killing him.

But, also, the fear of roman authorities made it dangerous to place too much blame on rome in scripture.

Though I find it interesting that you just dismiss gibsons remarks, remarks he did not dispute and (albeit weakly) apologized for.


Because I don't think they're important. I don't know about where you live, but the United States has embedded in its highest law a prohibition against laws punishing people for unpopular speech.

The United States also has a media that lies it's ass off. Given those two facts, I see no reason to trust unverified news stories, and besides which, Gibson didn't hurt anyone, so who cares? Some feelings got hurt, you say? So?

I'll still watch Road Warrior and Braveheart.

[Nathan Brazil]

The jewish leaders wanted to get rid of him because they didn't want to provoke aggression from Rome, and the leaders likely thought it was blasphemy as well. Jesus himself seems to have desired a confrontation with them. Pilate was bloodthirsty to begin with, later he was actually forced to return to rome due to his ruthlessness. He would have had no qualms about killing him.

But, also, the fear of roman authorities made it dangerous to place too much blame on rome in scripture.

Though I find it interesting that you just dismiss gibsons remarks, remarks he did not dispute and (albeit weakly) apologized for.


By your standard then, Alec Baldwin, the "liberal lion" of hwood is a woman-hating drunk.Â*Â*Wasn't he up on charges for beating his wife, Kim Basinger,Â*Â*a few years ago?Â*Â*I'm always reminded when I hear Jackson Browne whining about liberal causes that his main hobby was beating Darryl Hannah about the face.Â*Â*Of course, both Basinger and Hannah are probably just coked-up Hollywood trash themselves.Â*Â*

Remove not the mote in another's eye....



Don't know about that, he did manage to buy off a judge and jury when he was charged with assualt for punching out a photographer taking pictures while standing on a public thoroughfare, though.

(Oh, and I'm glad the paparazzi got Diana killed, too...)

[AlonzoMourning23]

The law prohibits legal prosecution. It also give you complete freedom to condemn such remarks, just like you condemn mine.

Nathan, Gibson has already commented on these remarks (included in the op). But, nevertheless, if it is found that he did make these remarks, do you or anthony condemn those comments as wrong and immoral?

[Nathan Brazil]

The Jews ARE responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus, if it happened at all.Â*Â*They asked Rome to intervene, did they not?

I've seen the movie.Â*Â* Excellent film, if a wee bit overboard on the whipping scene.Â*Â*The film was close enough to the mythology in the Bible to make anyone happy, I suppose.Â*Â*IMO, the hooply was about the ADL and etc trying to score points off someone else's work.

It's just another Hollywood DUI.Â*Â*I figure a guy that turned a $300,000,000 profit on one movie can afford to buy the best judge in town.Â*Â*

As for the alleged anti-semitic slurs?Â*Â*Anyone got a video of it?Â*Â*If not, I'd take the tale with a grain of kosher salt if I were you.Â*Â*Besides, it's a free country, he should be able to denigrate any group he wants.Â*Â*


SInce the topic of Jesus, Jews and Romans was brought up.

I think (if Jesus lived) the story of his execution was altered by later generations for political reasons.Â*Â*If Jesus was executed, it was by the Romans for political causes.Â*Â*They saw him as just another Jewish rabble-rouser, who were a dime a dozen in Palestine.

Jesus was a Jew and lived among the Jewish community.Â*Â*Almost (if not all) his followers were Jews.Â*Â*Indeed, after his death his earliest followers followed Jewish laws while they waited for Jesus' return.

I think the blaming of the Jews was a later invention.Â*Â*As Christianity grew throughout the Roman Empire, Roman began converting to Christianity.Â*Â*To keep from drawing unfavorable attention from Rome, Christians decided to blame the Jews, rather than Rome, for Jesus' death.

And, as the myth of Jesus grew from a Jewish messiah to a pagan "Christ" figure, the animosity of the Jews probably did increase.Â*Â*There is nothing blasphemous about messainic claims.Â*Â*Indeed there have been many who claimed (or were pronounced by others) to be the messiah in Jewish history.Â*Â*The pagan idea of "christ", the son of god, is antithetical to Jewish belief and would have been considered blasphemy.


The Jews eventually became the scapegoats because all totalitarian states need a hidden enemy to keep the populace in line. The jews were insular, which tended to raise resentment in the surrounding communities ("what? That Jew doesn't want his daughter to marry me?!"), and which also tended to retain capital in the family, which would tend to make people suspicious of them ("Where'd they get that money?), not to mention that most gold and silversmiths were Jewish, and that naturally led to complications and charges of usury.

No, I'm not blaming the Jews for any of that, it's just human nature in action on both sides.

[Nathan Brazil]

The law prohibits legal prosecution. It also give you complete freedom to condemn such remarks, just like you condemn mine.

Nathan, Gibson has already commented on these remarks (included in the op). But, nevertheless, if it is found that he did make these remarks, do you or anthony condemn those comments as wrong and immoral?



It also gives me complete freedom to be bored with yet another trumping by the race card, and it also gives me the freedom to refrain from censuring someone, too.Â*Â*If Gibson produces another movie like Braveheart, The Patriot, The Passion of the Christ, We Were Soldiers Once, or a few of his earlier films, I'm going to spend money, some of which will land in his pocket, to see it in the theater.

I don't care what he said.Â*Â*He's not a surrender monkey hurting this country in favor of the terrorists, is he?

EDIT:
The only thing that's really depressing about this story is that I live in the Los Angeles area, and BANG, we got ourselves a media circus again
over a truly minor incident.

And one other thought. Any chance that Gibson might have been more than slightly pissed off at how the jewish hierarchy in Hollyweird (it's still dominant) strove to shut his film off, and all the personal attacks from the predominantly liberal "oh, feel sorry for me I'm an oppressed Jew" elitists who seek to control the movie industry?

He was drunk, and he had to have been plenty pissed off for a reason. Depending on which part of PCH he was traversing, it's a damn dangerous road at 87 mph. For those of you that don't know, it's two lines each way, sometimes with a center turn lane, and it has spots where it curves like a snake with a broken back.

So, no, I ain't going to condemn him for his remarks.

[AlonzoMourning23]

So, you don't condemn the remarks then, is that correct?

[dsanthony]

So, you don't condemn the remarks then, is that correct?


In other words, are you now, or have you ever, held heretical thoughts!

[Nathan Brazil]

So, you don't condemn the remarks then, is that correct?


Nope. They weren't the wisest things to say, but if we can let murderers off because they were on drugs, we can let Gibson off because he was drunk.

[AlonzoMourning23]

In other words, are you now, or have you ever, held heretical thoughts!


Yes.

Now you attacked me for pointing out anti-semitism and both of you seem to refuse to want to denounce clearly anti-semitic comments.

If Gibson did indeed make these comments, do you denounce them as wrong and immoral?

[Nathan Brazil]

If Gibson did indeed make these comments, do you denounce them as wrong and immoral?

Factually, claiming the jews caused all the wars in the world is incorrect.Â*Â*The Peloponesian War didn't have any known jewish influences.

Immoral?Â*Â*No, I don't see any immorality in that statement, merely a deplorable lack of perspective.

[Labrocca]

Oh Mel? What you gone and done now?

Seems he admitted the remarks in an apology. I am sure he ain't a fan of the Jews as his religion is a bit anti-semetic to begin with. I ain't sure though that just getting drunk and maybe talking about the current Isreali conflict didn't spark those feelings. At least he isn't strapping a bomb to a car and blowing up Jews.

You might think he is anti-semetic but wtf..who can be happy about Isreal and all that's going on. Even Liberals think that Israel should cease fire. If that's the case then they are anti-semetic as well.

[AlonzoMourning23]

who can be happy about Isreal and all that's going on. Even Liberals think that Israel should cease fire. If that's the case then they are anti-semetic as well.

There's a difference between blaming Israel and blaming Jews as a people. It's the same difference between blaming Hezbollah and blaming Muslims as a people.

[Anti-Racism]

Besides, it's a free country, he should be able to denigrate any group he wants.


I have to agree that it's more important to preserve rights than to go after those with violent opinions.