The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on the editors of il manifesto, a newspaper associated with the Italian Communist Party, to apologize for a caricature that depicted a Jewish candidate for parliament with Fascist insignia, a campaign button and a Star of David.

The March 13 caricature by Vauro Senisi, “Electoral Monsters,” was subtitled “Fiamma Frankenstein” in a clear reference to Fiamma Nirenstein, a Jewish candidate for parliament and a member of the People of Freedom (PdL) party.

“We are outraged that il manifesto published an indisputably anti-Semitic cartoon,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.  “Whether intentional or not, the clear effect of the cartoon was to associate Jews with the Fascists who persecuted them, denigrate the PdL by associating it with Jews, and highlight the presence of an Italian Jew on the PdL electoral list.

“In any case, the result is the same: anti-Semitism.”

In a letter to the co-directors of the Rome-based publication, ADL urged the newspaper to issue a formal apology in the space where Senisi’s cartoons are featured.