(CNN) -- Two leading Jewish watchdog groups are denouncing a prominent cartoonist's illustration about Israel's offensive in Gaza, saying it uses anti-Semitic imagery. The cartoon was published Wednesday in newspapers and on the Internet. The Anti-Defamation League, which has been fighting anti-Semitism since it was founded in 1913, called the syndicated cartoon by Pulitzer Prize-winning Pat Oliphant "hideously anti-Semitic." The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which, among other things, fights anti-Semitism and educates people about the Holocaust, said "the cartoon mimics the venomous anti-Semitic propaganda of the Nazi and Soviet eras." Published Wednesday in newspapers and on the Internet, the cartoon shows the small figure of a woman, labeled Gaza, carrying a child. She is being pursued by a headless, jackbooted figure wielding a sword, marching in an apparent goose-step and pushing a fanged Jewish star on a wheel.
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NEW: Cartoon's distributor defends cartoonist, cites his talent to stir debate
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Work by Pulitzer-winning cartoonist shows jack-booted figure, Jewish star with fangs
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Anti-Defamation League, Simon Wiesenthal Center say it uses anti-Semitic imagery
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Critics compare Israeli actions to Nazi aggression; Israel says it must defended itself
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"It employs Nazi imagery by portraying @placeholder as a jack-booted, goose-stepping headless apparition," Foxman said.
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Human Rights Watch said Wednesday the Israeli military's firing of white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas during the offensive "was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes," a claim denied by @placeholder.
Pat Oliphant
"I believe that like the caricatures they are, editorial cartoons by their nature exaggerate their messages, so I don't think @placeholder is suggesting a one-to-one comparison.
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Simon Wiesenthal Center
He also believes the ADL and the @placeholder "are saying that the cartoon is at least doing unintentional harm (if not more calculated harm)."
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There are symbols -- and the Nazi extermination of the @placeholder is surely one of them -- that can only truly be analogized to their equals.