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Mel asks Jews for help
02/08/2006 08:38 - (SA)
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| Seeking forgiveness. (AP) |
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Los Angeles - Mel Gibson acknowledged making anti-Semitic slurs during a drunken driving arrest and begged Jewish community leaders on Tuesday to meet with him to find "the appropriate path for healing".
A sheriff's watchdog, meanwhile, said deputies appeared to have handled Gibson's arrest properly.
It was the actor's second apology since sheriff's deputies stopped him for speeding early on Friday on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, where officials said he was doing 140km/h in a 72km/h zone.
The latest apology went far beyond the first by addressing Jewish groups directly.
"I want to apologise specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words," Gibson said in a statement issued by his publicist.
"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. ... There will be many in that (Jewish) community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable. But I pray that that door is not forever closed."
Proof of repentance
Jewish groups generally said they wanted to see proof of Gibson's repentance before meeting with him.
"We always felt that there was another agenda, but we never called him an anti-Semite. I guess this moment in Malibu finished the circle, and so now it all comes together," said Abraham H Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League.
"But I'd like to put it behind him, I hope he wants to put it behind him, but you need to work at it. 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."
County prosecutors were reviewing the sheriff's report on Tuesday to decide what charges, if any, would be filed against Gibson.
A civilian watchdog attorney, investigating allegations of a cover-up by the Sheriff's Department, said a preliminary review found nothing wrong with the handling of Gibson's arrest.
"In this case, the information reviewed to date indicates that LASD did ensure that the arrest of Mr Gibson was handled in accord with its policies and practices," said Michael Gennaco, head of the county Office of Independent Review.
'Anti-Semitism is not born in one day...'
Sheriff's spokesperson Steve Whitmore said on Tuesday that after Gibson was released from jail on $5 000 bail, a deputy drove him to a tow yard to retrieve his car. Whitmore said the short ride in a marked patrol car was "within department policy".
Gibson's publicist, Alan Nierob, said on Tuesday the actor was in an ongoing programme for alcohol abuse before his arrest and had entered a new programme since his arrest on Friday. Both were described as outpatient programmes.
As a public person, "when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena," Gibson's latest statement said.
Gibson, 50, has had an edgy relationship with Jewish organisations since the success of his 2004 blockbuster The Passion of the Christ, which some criticised for portraying Jews as responsible for the death of Jesus.
"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," said a statement from Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles.
Gibson should read about Jewish persecution and the Holocaust and "visit sites where it occurred", Hier added.
"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.
- AP
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