Gandhi’s grandson quits peace institute

By · January 27, 2008

Arun Gandhi resigned from a peace institute after saying that Jews and Israel were “the biggest players” in a culture of violence.

The gransdon of Mahatma Gandhi announced his resignation last Friday from the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence at the University of Rochester in New York.

“My intention was to generate a healthy discussion on the proliferation of violence,” he said, according to reports. “Instead, unintentionally, my words have resulted in pain, anger, confusion and embarrassment. I deeply regret these consequences.”

Arun Gandhi had drawn fire for a Jan. 7 posting on the Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog, which had asked participants to comment on Jewish identity. Gandhi wrote that Jewish identity was “locked into” the Holocaust.

“The world did feel sorry for the episode but when an individual or a nation refuses to forgive and move on, the regret turns into anger,” he wrote. “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.”

The university’s president, Joel Seligman, said Gandhi will discuss the issues he raised in a forum later this year with Jewish leaders.