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Gandhi Heir Quits Institute As Post On Jews Creates Furor

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By BEN DOBBIN, The Associated Press

Published: January 26, 2008

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Mahatma Gandhi's grandson resigned from the peace institute he co-founded after condemnation of his comments that Israel and the Jews are the biggest players in a culture of violence that "is eventually going to destroy humanity."

Arun Gandhi, the fifth grandson of the revered pacifist, said Friday that his comments, which were posted on an online forum, were meant "to generate a healthy discussion on the proliferation of violence."

"Instead, unintentionally, my words have resulted in pain, anger, confusion and embarrassment. I deeply regret these consequences," Gandhi said.

He apologized "for my poorly worded post," saying he should not have implied that Israeli government policies reflected the views of all Jewish people.

Larry Fine, head of the Jewish Federation of Rochester, called the posting "reprehensible."

Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, called it "shameful that a peace institute would be headed up by a bigot."

"One would hope that the grandson of such an illustrious human being would be more sensitive to Jewish history," Foxman said.

The board of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, based at the University of Rochester, accepted Gandhi's offer on Thursday to step down as its president.

Gandhi co-founded the institute in 1991 with his wife, Sunanda, at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tenn., and relocated it to the University of Rochester campus in June, a few months after her death.

Gandhi was on a panel of scholars, writers and clergy who discuss a new topic weekly on The Washington Post's "On Faith" page, and his comments, posted Jan. 7, drew a torrent of criticism, much of it unfavorable.

Describing Israel as "a nation that believes its survival can only be ensured by weapons and bombs," Gandhi asked whether it would "not be better to befriend those who hate you?"

"Apparently, in the modern world so determined to live by the bomb, this is an alien concept," he wrote. "You don't befriend anyone, you dominate them. We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity."

He wrote that Jewish identity "has been locked into the holocaust experience - a German burden that the Jews have not been able to shed. It is a very good example of how a community can overplay a historic experience to the point that it begins to repulse friends."

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