NRA cartoon raises hackles

A cartoon of New York City’s Jewish mayor recalls anti-Semitic stereotypes, a Jewish group charged. The cover of the National Rifle Association’s recent magazine portrays gun-control advocate Michael Bloomberg as an octopus, an animal often used in Nazi caricatures to symbolize alleged Jewish conspiracy and control, a comparison made by Adolf Hitler in ”Mein Kampf.” Bloomberg would not comment on the cartoon, which the NRA told The Associated Press was not meant as an anti-Semitic jibe. David Twersky of the American Jewish Congress told the AP that he didn’t believe the NRA acted knowingly, but added, “For them not to know this is really, really stupid,” he said. ”You take a powerful Jewish figure and show him in a way that provokes traditional anti-Semitism, it’s really unforgivable.”