One of the posters showed party leader Howard and shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin, both of whom are Jewish, with their faces superimposed on the bodies of flying pigs. The second showed Howard posing with a fob watch and has been accused of representing him as either Shylock, from 'The Merchant of Venice' or Fagin from Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist'.
Labour has defended the posters, created by TBWA\London, as being anti-Tory rather than anti-Jewish. However, in the wake of the furore generated by press coverage on the issue over the last four days, it has taken them down from its website, where members had been asked for opinions on their use in the general election advertising campaign.
Some have accused Labour of deliberately using imagery that would subliminally tap in to anti-Jewish sentiment, while others accept that it was the result of ignorance.
The posters come as attacks on Jews in the UK are on the rise. There has been a spate of gang attacks on Orthodox Jews in the North London area. Last week, police arrested members of a gang behind at least eight racist attacks on Jewish men in Stamford Hill.
Michael Whine, a spokesman for the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security and anti-Semitism, said: "We have a rising trend in violence and anti-Semitism on the streets."
Ned Temko, editor of The Jewish Chronicle, said: "The campaign clearly draws on an old stereotype. The most charitable interpretation is these were an inadvertent mix of insensitivity and cultural illiteracy.
"The least charitable: it is part of a deliberate pattern of frankly anti-Semitic invective."
The poster that won the approval of visitors to the Labour party website shows Howard and Letwin with a blackboard that reads "2 + 2 = 5".
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