The websites of the cities of Houston, Texas, and Jackson, Miss., return three pages each that redirect to a website titled “Why are Jews so successful in business?”
The page to which the cities’ official websites redirect, and which lacks a government URL suffix, appears to be written by artificial intelligence.
“Mastering new skills should be both efficient and enjoyable, and that is exactly what Why Are Jews So Successful In Business was designed for,” the page states.
“Each reader begins from a different starting point, so Why Are Jews So Successful In Business accommodates all experience levels,” it adds.
JNS sought comment from both cities about why the websites direct readers to the page.
Mary Benton, chief of communications and senior adviser to Houston Mayor John Whitmire, told JNS on Thursday that the city’s information technology team “has spent the past few days investigating this matter.”
“From what we can gather, doing a regular Google search, not the one specific to the city of Houston home page, it’s brightideas.houstontx.gov, which auto-redirects to a page independent of the city of Houston website,” she said.
“Steps have been taken to prevent the BrightIdeas page from auto-redirecting to the city of Houston website,” she told JNS.
Per the World Jewish Congress, assumptions have been made throughout history “about Jews and money, including that Jews are greedy global capitalists, wealthy communists, socialists and of course, that Jews unduly influence the world with their money.”
“These stereotypes have permeated cultures globally and are rooted in antisemitism,” the WJC said.
