Jewish Org. to WB -- BOOT Mel Gibson from Maccabee Movie
Jewish Orgs. to Warner Bros. BOOT Mel Gibson from Maccabee Movie
Two powerful Jewish organizations are lashing out against the decision to hire Mel Gibson to produce a movie about biblical Jewish hero Judah Maccabee ... TMZ has learned.
The Anti-Defamation League has released a statement -- demanding Warner Bros. pull Gibson off the flick immediately ... saying, "As a hero of the Jewish people and a universal hero in the struggle for religious liberty, Judah Maccabee deserves better."
The statement adds, "It would be a travesty to have the story of the Maccabees told by one who has no respect and sensitivity for other people’s religious views."
TMZ also spoke with Rabbi Marvin Hier -- founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center -- who tells us putting Mel Gibson work on a movie about a Jewish hero is "like having a white supremacist portray Martin Luther King Jr."
FYI -- Judah is a central figure in the story of Hanukkah ... as the brave warrior who drove enemies of Judaism out of Jerusalem.