Swiss Socialists Sorry for Anti-Semitic Caricature
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
An organization belonging to the Swiss socialist party apologized for posting online a caricature which critics said was reminiscent of Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda.
JUSO, the youth division of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland – the country’s second largest party – on Saturday released a statement saying it was a “mistake” to publish the caricature last week on JUSO’s Facebook page.
The caricature shows Swiss Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann saying: “And one spoonful for the international finance lobby” as he feeds a large-mouthed man wearing a black coat and hat and side-locks, who is clutching the minister’s wrist. A boy with lighter hair sits on the minister’s other side while opening his far smaller mouth.
“We understand that the cartoon allows for an interpretation through anti-Semitic codes and stereotypes that absolutely do not correspond with JUSO’s basic values,” the organization wrote in a statement on Jan. 23. ”We would like to apologize unreservedly for this regrettable error and affirm that there was no intention to reproduce anti-Semitism.”
The caricature was part of the party’s campaign against speculation, according to the Swiss Blick daily, which defined it as “reminiscent of the imagery of the Nazis.”
And the political blog etwasanderekritik.wordpress.com published a post on the caricature, writing that “Julius Streicher would certainly be proud of the JUSO cartoon and would have added it to his Nazi magazine, Sturmer.”
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