How ‘Project Esther’ Seeks to Silence Voices within American Society

Trump’s second term is set to see a new crackdown on those who oppose racism, apartheid, and genocide, represented by a strategy called ‘Project Esther’ to combat anti-Semitism, created by The Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank.

The Heritage Foundation is the same foundation that was created, with the help of conservative politicians and scholars, including 140 members of the previous Trump administration, Project 2025, which proposes a set of proposals for a political transition in 2025 under Trump’s leadership.

According to analysts, the implementation of this plan could include restrictions on American Muslims and all American voices calling for justice and peace, regardless of their beliefs and religions, including American Jews.

On its part, the progressive investigative website Mondoweiss revealed in a report last month that Project Esther represents a new and dangerous threat to the Palestine solidarity movement in the United States.

The project, which has an ideological character, seeks to destroy any activity supporting the Palestinian cause and portray it as linked to terrorism, thus reviving the McCarthyist atmosphere that characterized American political life in the past.

Project Esther

While voices opposing the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip are rising in American universities and streets, and global awareness of the Israeli genocide crimes in Gaza is growing, Project Esther has been initiated by The Heritage Foundation.

While the ostensible goal of the far-right project is to combat anti-Semitism, the real goal is to punish critics of “Israel” and supporters of liberal causes within American society.

Project Esther, which was launched on October 7, 2024, expects to eliminate anti-Israel sentiment in the United States within only 12 to 24 months.

The project targets what it calls the Hamas Support Network consisting of Arab and Palestinian organizations and American Jewish voices critical of “Israel”. It claims that these groups are clearly anti-Semitic, and hostile to “Israel” and America.

Among the organizations targeted by Project Esther are Students for Justice in Palestine, American Muslims for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, Alliance for Global Justice, the Tides Foundation, and even the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

The project also seeks to deny financial and legal dealings to organizations supporting Palestine, limiting their ability to operate in the public sphere.

In addition, it classifies social media posts or any solidarity activities - such as press releases or letters to elected officials - as illegal.

Zeteo, an organization concerned with monitoring Western media coverage, stated that Project Esther equates anti-Zionism and criticism of “Israel” with anti-Semitism, and even anti-Americanism.

It added that the project portrays the millions of Americans who oppose Israeli aggression against Palestine and American support for Tel Aviv as opportunists, foreign-funded, and inauthentic.

The project also names several political figures in Congress, such as Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as opponents of Israeli and American interests.

Through this project, right-wing conservatives, supported by influential circles, seek to impose unprecedented restrictions on freedom of expression within universities and public institutions, and punish those voices that criticize Israeli policies.

The project talks about a comprehensive strategy that includes: restricting funding, imposing legal sanctions, and freezing the assets of institutions that support liberation causes.

Political and Legal Pressures

The re-election of Donald Trump as President of the United States represents a major shift in American policy, from trying to deny involvement in Israeli war crimes and genocide against the Palestinians, to supporting all of this through statements, promises, and the shape of the next administration, which includes figures who explicitly support everything Israeli.

Under Biden, those who opposed American-facilitated genocide, from university students and civil servants to racial justice activists and authors, already faced threats from politicians, police harassment, baseless accusations of anti-Semitism in the media and relentless intimidation from employers, university administrators, and far-right-linked Zionist self-defence groups.

Trump, however, says Biden has been weak in countering Hamas radicals and he would do even more to shut down anticolonial resistance as president.

Since his election, he has nominated pro-Israel hawks to key intelligence and security posts in his government, signaling he intends to keep his promises of cracking down on anti-Zionist activists.

For example, Trump named Kristi Noem, the South Dakota governor as his secretary of homeland security.

Noem has previously introduced a bill cracking down on criticism of Israel on the grounds of ensuring the security of God’s chosen people.

It is noteworthy that Donald Trump had previously stated, saying: “My promise to Jewish Americans is this: With your vote, I will be your defender, your protector, and I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.” 

“I am here today to tell the American Jewish community that this ugly tide of anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas sentiment will be crushed starting at noon on January 20th, 2025,” he added.

In turn, Washington-based activist Omar Taha explained to Al-Estiklal that “Project Esther appears to be a direct threat under the guise of patriotism and American values to Palestinians, immigrants, and every group that defends human rights, opposes colonialism or criticizes Israel inside the country.”

“Individuals who support the Palestinian cause are likely to face police surveillance and intimidation, as well as sanctions under laws and legislation that protect Zionist policies and prevent criticism of Israel or support for pro-Palestinian activities,” he said.

Mr. Taha pointed out that “as for the institutions, they are at risk of losing their status as tax-exempt charitable organizations if they are proven to support what the United States and Israel describe as terrorism, and thus this will affect their ability to operate legally.”

“In addition, MPs may also be subjected to political and legal pressure and stigmatization as supporters of Hamas. Thus this will limit their ability to take independent political positions,” he added.

Unprecedented Restrictions

Project Esther has received much debate and widespread negative interaction on social media.

Professor Joseph Hawley, from Columbia University, who is an anti-Zionist Jew, told Zetteo that the project seeks to make being an anti-Zionist illegal at the federal level.

“This is the latest attempt to use the American Jewish community to advance the far-Right’s repressive agenda,” said Jewish Voice for Peace executive director Stephanie Fox.

Yoav Litvin, an Israeli-American doctor of psychology, in a long series of tweets, pointed out that Project Esther is manipulating public opinion to convince them that solidarity with Palestinians, even when expressed by Jews themselves, constitutes anti-Semitism.

Francisco Taviera explained that Project Esther shamelessly states its aims to eliminate anticolonial perspectives from the US education system, limit the dissemination of related information, and restrict advocates’ access to American society, the economy, and Congress.

Writer Mitchell Plitnick expressed the seriousness of the project and the programs and plans it contains, the primary goal of which is to destroy the Palestine solidarity movement within the United States.

Plitnick could find no explanation for such classifications other than that Project Esther represents a new McCarthyist, which places dissenters in the position of conspirators against Israel and America at the same time.

On the other hand, a number of students spoke of their fears of what they might face if they participated in activities or protests on campus, after a series of restrictions and strict procedures imposed by some universities to prevent a repeat of scenes and protests last spring.

Others said that the ban on wearing masks, which students have resorted to as a means of concealing their identities, will limit their ability to participate effectively in any new protests.

The New York Times quoted some professors and students as saying that they are already facing disproportionate repression for expressing their opinions once again.

According to a report by The Hill, Amr Shabaik, legal director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in California, there is concern of a Trump administration ramping up and taking even more extreme unlawful and unconstitutional crackdowns on student protesters who speak out against U.S. support for Israel’s genocide of Palestine.