20 April 2007
A cartoon depicting New York City’s mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is Jewish, recalled anti-Semitic stereotypes, a Jewish group has charged. The cover of the National Rifle Association's (NRA) recent magazine portrays the gun-control advocate Bloomberg as an octopus, an animal often used in Nazi caricatures to symbolize alleged Jewish conspiracy and control and included in Adolf Hitler’s ''Mein Kampf.''
Bloomberg said he would not comment on the cartoon. The NRA said was not meant as an anti-Semitic jibe. David Twersky of the American Jewish Congress told AP that he did not believe the powerful pro-gun lobby organization had acted knowingly, but he 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 is really unforgivable."
