British Jewish group calls for dismantlement of Zionist state
London, Nov 15, 2001, IRNA -- Representatives of a Jewish religious group has called for the dismantlement of Israel as the root cause of tension and violence in the Middle East.

The Neturei Karta representatives made the call at a one-day International conference on terrorism attended by Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders and politicians here Tuesday.

A member of the group, J. Konig, elaborating on his statements at the conference told IRNA: "I want to see the dismantlement of the state and the peaceful coexistence of Jews with Arabs and the Arab rule."

He added: "Like we live everywhere, like we live in London, like we live in any part of the world, we just want to be citizens, we don't want to be rulers we want to be ruled."

Another member of the group regretted the `bad image' the Israeli government has created of the Jews and caused world people to have a wrong impression of Judaism. Rabbi A Grohman, a Netuei Karta leader, elaborated on the establishment of the Zionist regime and said it was behind spread of corruption among a number of Jews. Condemning any act of violence which leads to loss of life of innocent people, he considered establishment of Zionist government in the occupied Palestine as a factor for outbreak of disputes between Muslims and Jews. He added that before the establishment of the Zionist regime, Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in peace in the Palestine region.  Neturei Karta has a considerable number of followers in Britain.

Meanwhile, Rabbai Hershal Gluck, Chairman of the Muslim-Jewish Forum of the UK, in his speech titled "Looking at the past through the prism of the future", condemned terrorism as a phenomenon about destroying innocent lives.

"Too many mothers have cried for the loss of their children, and too many children for their parents," he said, stressing: "It is high time to look at what divides us. It is time to call an end to the cycle." Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders discussed the topic of terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on American targets in New York and Washington.

The one-day international conference was sponsored by the Institute of Islamic Studies affiliated to the Islamic Center of England. Speakers including religious personalities, politicians, university professors and intellectuals from Britain, the United States and Iran expressed their viewpoints regarding terrorism and the current conflicts in Afghanistan and the Middle East.