LOS ANGELES - Mel Gibson's latest apology drew mixed reactions from Jewish
leaders, with some saying they were willing to help the actor address the
anti-Semitic slurs he made during a drunken driving arrest and others demanding
proof of his repentance.
Gibson made his second public apology Tuesday, four days after he was
arrested for investigation of drunken driving following a hostile, offensive
confrontation with deputies.
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In this booking photo released by the Los
Angeles County Sheriff's Department, actor-director Mel Gibson is seen in
a booking photo taken Friday, July 28, 2006. An official police report on
Gibson's arrest on drunken driving charges on Friday substantiates claims
that he made anti-Semitic remarks and threatened a deputy, a law
enforcement official said Monday, July 31.
[AP]
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A law enforcement official who spoke on
condition of anonymity said the sheriff's report says Gibson told the arresting
deputy: "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," and asked him,
"Are you a Jew?"
The apology went far beyond the first - directed primarily to
deputies - and addressed Jewish groups directly. "Please know from my heart
that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot. Hatred of any kind goes against
my faith," he said in a statement.
"There will be many in that (Jewish) community who will want nothing to do
with me, and that would be understandable," he added. "But I pray that that door
is not forever closed."
Gibson, 50, has had an edgy relationship with Jewish organizations since his
2004 blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ," which some criticized for
portraying Jews as responsible for Jesus' death. Supporters said the movie
merely followed the Gospel story.
His apology prompted one rabbi to invite Gibson to speak at his temple on Yom
Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. Other Jewish leaders say the healing
process will take some time.
"Anti-Semitism is not born in one day and cannot be cured in one day and
certainly not through the issuing of a press release," Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean
of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said in a statement. Gibson
should read about Jewish persecution and the Holocaust, among other things, Hier
added by telephone from Israel.
"When Mr. Gibson embarks on a serious long-term effort to address that
bigotry and anti-Semitism, he will find the Jewish community more than willing
to engage and help him," he said.
Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the
process requires hard work. "You can't just say I'm no longer a drunk; you can't
just say I'm no longer a bigot. You need to work hard at it, and we're ready to
help him," Foxman said.
