"Paul Weyrich, one of the founders of the contemporary conservative movement, has provoked a furor on both the right and left by writing an Easter commentary declaring that 'Christ was crucified by the Jews.'

The commentary caused critics to accuse Weyrich of anti-Semitism. Evan Gahr, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a writer for a number of conservative publications, countered yesterday with an outraged commentary of his own on the American Spectator Web site. In an interview, he called Weyrich a 'demented anti-Semite.'

Weyrich, head of the Free Congress Foundation, was unavailable for comment but an aide, Nicholas Sanchez, said, 'He is not in any way an anti-Semite.' Sanchez sought to back up Weyrich's assertion by citing several passages in the New Testament including the Book of Matthew, Chapters 27 and 28, and the Book of Mark, Chapters 8, 14 and 15. 'Paul was just citing the Scriptures,' Sanchez said.

Weyrich's April 13 commentary - titled 'Indeed He Is Risen!' - was e-mailed to supporters and posted on the Free Congress Foundation's Web site. In it Weyrich wrote:

'Our God could not bear to see mankind suffering, even if it was from the consequences of his own actions, so He sent His only Son to become man so that man could become like God. To accomplish that Christ was crucified by the Jews who had wanted a temporal ruler to rescue them from the oppressive Roman authorities. Instead God sent them a spiritual leader to rescue them from their sins and despite the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, performed incredible miracles, even raised people from the dead, He was not what the Jews had expected so they considered Him a threat. Thus He was put to death.'

The publication of Gahr's essay produced a flood of e-mails to the American Spectator, some supporting Gahr some backing Weyrich, and many arguing that the point of the crucifixion story is, in the words of a number of writers, that 'we [everyone of all backgrounds] killed Christ.'

Gahr's criticism of Weyrich was strongly supported by Marc Stem of the American Jewish Congress and Eugene Fisher, director of Catholic-Jewish relations for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Stem said that throughout Western history, 'the charge often set off pogroms' based on the 'blood libel that Jews killed Christ.' In some countries, Stem said, Jews avoid going out at night around Easter and Good Friday because of fears of violence.

Fisher said Weyrich's statement 'is exactly the type of collective guilt on the Jewish people that the Second Vatican Council specifically condemned in the declaration Nostra Aetate, October 28, 1965.' A year ago, Pope John Paul II said in Israel that the Catholic Church is 'deeply saddened by the hatred, acts of persecution, and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews.'

In a demonstration of the volatility of these issues on the political right, Gahr had submitted his article to David Horowitz's FrontPage Magazine, where he is a regular columnist. Horowitz recently gained publicity from an ad attacking slavery reparations that Provoked controversy on college campuses where it ran. Horowitz denounced the attacks as liberal censorship.

Richard Poe, editor of FrontPage, rejected the Gahr article but denied there was a double standard regarding criticism of conservatives. In an interview, Poe said, 'I did not feel that there was anything in Evan's article that justified calling this man an anti-Semite.' He declined to say whether Horowitz reviewed the article" (Thomas B. Edsall, The Washington Post, April 21, 2001).