The book was largely protested because of anti-Semitic undertones in the character of Fagin, a career criminal, and Dickens repeatedly refers to him as "the Jew." (The anti-semitism in the book is obvious - the character of Fagin is NOT the jolly robber he's depicted to be in the plays - he is entirely despicable.)
And, once again, the movie versions were much more protested than the book versions... c'est la vie.