Jordan Perry, the manager of Lake Theater & Cafe in Lake Oswego theater in suburban Portland, Oregon, is attempting to defend a cryptic marquee message about Jews and The Odyssey. Emblazoned in plain sight it reads, “Before there were the Jews, there was … The Odyssey.”

Historians and scholars quickly pointed out that the statement was not merely historically inaccurate; it reflected a familiar tactic employed by antisemites throughout history—the erasure or minimization of Jewish history and identity. The Jewish people trace their origins to the ancient Israelites of the second millennium BCE, centuries before The Odyssey was composed and long before classical Greek civilization reached its height.

Rather than acknowledge his ignorance or simply apologize for an indefensible message, Perry doubled down. He declared, “I believe modern-day antisemitism is exaggerated, mostly as a defense for Israel’s actions in the Middle East and its involvement in our politics.”

That statement did not merely reveal poor judgment. It exposed a mindset steeped in some of the oldest and........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)