(JTA) – The youth division of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland – the country’s second largest – apologized for an online caricature that critics said was reminiscent of Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda.
JUSO released a statement Saturday saying it was a “mistake” to publish the caricature last week on its 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 with sidelocks wearing a black coat and hat — the look of the haredi Orthodox – 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 its statement. “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 support of a campaign seeking stricter regulation on profits from stocks, according to the Swiss Blick daily, which defined it as “reminiscent of the imagery of the Nazis.”
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.”
