An “antisemitic” meme often used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists has been removed from a graphic design app.

The “Happy merchant” meme, created in 2001, depicts a caricature of a Jewish man with heavily stereotyped facial features who is greedily rubbing his hands together.

It featured on the Art Lab app but was removed after pressure from the Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Art Lab admitted the meme was “antisemitic” but said they were “totally unaware” it was on their app.

In a statement, the organisation said they “respected every religion” and stressed that they “believe in love and peace”. 

They went on to say that when the meme was raised to their attention, they “removed it immediately” and expressed “sincere apologies” for any harm caused.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said the meme was “repugnant”.

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Screenshot of the Art Lab app (Photo: Screenshot)

A spokesperson added: “We understand that the owners of the Art Lab app were unaware of the graphic’s presence on its platform, and we commend them for their swift and decisive action to remove the image as soon as we brought it to their attention”.

The meme was first created by cartoonist Nick Bougas, under the pseudonym “A. Wyatt Mann”, and was used initially as part of a cartoon which said: “Let's face it! A world without Jews and Blacks would be like a world without rats and cockroaches”.

In 2017, the news network Al Jazeera was criticised for tweeting an image which included the meme.

The tweet, promoting a story about climate change, insinuated that Jewish people were involved in a climate conspiracy.

The Art Lab app has been downloaded over 100,000 times on Google Play.