Mel Gibson

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 15--Mel Gibson has said his anti-Semitic outburst in July may have stemmed from resentment over the criticism leveled at The Passion of the Christ. However, he added that the Jews are not blameless in the Middle East conflict.

According to BBC, Gibson’s 2004 depiction of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion had been attacked by Jewish leaders, who said it could incite hatred towards Jews.

He told US TV’s Good Morning America he was “ashamed“ of what he said. “I was subjected to a pretty brutal public beating. I thought I’d dealt with that stuff,“ he said. “But the human heart can bear the scars of resentment, and it will come out when you are overwrought,“ he told ABC interviewer Diane Sawyer.

In the interview, screened over two days, the actor and director also said his statement to police that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world“ grew out of concerns about violence between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Asked by Sawyer, “what are the Jews responsible for?“, Gibson replied, “They’re not blameless in the Middle East conflict.“

Gibson denied being influenced by his father, Hutton Gibson, who has publicly said he doubts six million Jews were killed by the Nazis.