World - Canadian Press

Arafat aid compares The Passion of the Christ to current Palestinian suffering

Date: Sat, Mar 20, 2004

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) watched Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ on Saturday, and afterward a top aide compared Jesus' pain during crucifixion to the suffering of Palestinians in the conflict with Israel.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, one of Arafat's closest advisers, watched the film along with the veteran Palestinian leader and a group of American and European Christians and Palestinian Muslim clerics.

"The Palestinians are still daily being exposed to the kind of pain Jesus was exposed to during his crucifixion," Abu Rdeneh said in a statement after he viewed the movie.

Arafat, who watched the film on a small TV set in his Ramallah office, said the movie was "historic and impressive."

The visiting Christians, Anglicans and Protestants, were from the United States, Canada and Britain, said Palestinian legislator Hannan Ashrawi, who also viewed the film. Arafat's office did not further identify the delegation.

Gibson's film graphically depicts Christ's final hours. The film has been a huge box office success, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in its first two weeks in theatres in the United States and Canada.

The film has sparked controversy, and some Jews have said the movie will fuel anti-Semitism because it unfairly portrays Jews as the main force behind Jesus' crucifixion. Other critics have said the film is overly violent. -

On the Net:

Movie Web site: thepassionofthechrist.com/

SOURCE

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