Britain / 07-10-2012
Banking protest mural resembling Nazi antisemitic propaganda to be removed from East End
London - A mural depicting money-grabbing bankers will be removed following complaints that it resembles the antisemitic propaganda of Nazi Germany.
The provocative painting has appeared on a wall in the predominantly Muslim area of Brick Lane in East London, once a thriving Jewish community.
The mural, by international graffiti artist Mear One, shows moustachioed and hooked-nosed bankers huddled around a Monopoly board supported on the backs of the working class, seemingly drawing on long outdated Jewish stereotypes.
Now the artist has been accused of antisemitism, a claim he vehemently denies.
But with its continued presence causing public tolerance to fray, council bosses have set a deadline for its removal.
Mear One - real name Kalen Ockerman - completed the painting last month in an area steeped in Jewish history.
Orthodox immigrants fleeing persecution in Tsarist Russia first settled in Brick Lane in the 1880s and the area remained a proud Jewish neighbourhood until the 1960s.
Local councillor and long-term resident Peter Golds has urged the police to pursue the inflammatory artist under race hate laws.
He said: ‘When I saw the mural I was shocked. It’s horribly similar to the propaganda used by the Third Reich in Nazi Germany.
‘The money hoarding and hooked-nosed men is classic Nazi.
