WASHINGTON, DC — It didn’t attract much attention when the Heritage Foundation, a prominent US right-wing think tank, released a playbook last year for a way to destroy the Palestinian Solidarity Movement.
But more than eight months later, the policy document known as Project Esther faces increased scrutiny from activists and the media as President Donald Trump appears to be following its blueprint.
The authors of Project Esther presented the report as a set of recommendations to combat anti-Semitism, but critics say the ultimate purpose of the document is to “poison” groups critical of Israel by portraying them as Hamas’s companions.
Project Esther was created in response to growing protests against the US support of Israel’s war against Gaza, which UN experts and rights groups described as genocide.
So, what is Project Esther and how is it applied to activists? This is to look at the document and its continued implications for the US.
What is Heritage Foundation?
The Heritage Foundation is an influential and conservative think tank in Washington, DC, which states it is “developing and promoting public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, personal freedom, traditional American values and powerful national defense.”
However, critics argue that Project Esther is seeking government interference to curb individual freedoms, including freedom of speech and association rights, when opposing Israeli government policies.
According to a New York Times report published earlier this month, the project is being overseen by Victoria Coates, the Heritage Foundation’s vice president who served as deputy national security adviser during Trump’s first term.
The Heritage Foundation is also behind Project 2025. This is described by critics as the authoritarian playbook for President No. 2.
Prior to last year’s election, Democrats repeatedly called Project 2025 to criticize Trump, but the candidates at the time were distanced from the documents.
What does Project Esther aim to achieve?
The initiative says it aims to “dismantle the infrastructure that maintains what is called the “Hamas Support Network” within 24 months.
According to Project Esther, what is “Hamas Support Network”?
The authors argue that the group engaged in the advocacy of Palestinian rights is a member of the Hamas Support Network (HSN).
They define the assumed network as “people and organizations that are directly and indirectly involved in promoting the Hamas cause that violates American values and infringes damage to American citizens and the national security interests of America.”
In short, the document argues that “Palestinian movement” is “effectively a terrorist support network.”
Does the Hamas Support Network exist?
no.
There is no such network in the US. It has strict laws against providing significant support to groups designated as “terrorist organizations,” including Hamas.
Beth Miller – Political Director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a group that the Heritage Foundation name calls Project Esther’s allegations “quirky” as part of the network.
“It reveals the length of the lies and the length of the absurdity they are experiencing in order to demolish the Palestinian rights movement,” Miller told Al Jazeera.
The Heritage Foundation did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
How does Project Esther plan to defeat the Palestinian rights movement?
The document calls for a multifaceted campaign against supporters of Palestinian rights, and targets them legally, politically and financially.
The initiative outlines 19 goals that are labelled as “desired effects.”
They include rejecting Palestinian rights supporters that are not access to universities that are not US citizens, ensuring that social media platforms do not allow “anti-Semitic content” and presenting evidence of “criminal conduct” by Palestinian advocates to the enforcement department.
They also ask for the refusal to grant permission for protests organized in support of Palestinian rights.
Project Esther suggests that Israeli supporters should undermine their credibility by conducting “legal private research” with Palestinian groups to “discover criminal misconduct.”
“We need to play the law,” he reads, referring to the tactics of using litigation to put pressure on the enemy.
Has the Trump administration turned Project Esther’s recommendations into policy?
It seems to be true.
“We are beginning to implement some of our efforts in terms of legislative, legal and financial penalties for what we consider to be material support for terrorism,” Coates told the New York Times.
Trump’s crackdown on university protests appears to be in line with what Project Esther is trying to achieve.
For example, the US administration has revoked visas for foreign students who are critical of Israel. This reflects Project Esther’s proposal, which calls for students to be identified “in violation of student visa requirements.”
In a footnote to Project Esther, the Heritage Foundation extensively cites Canary Mission, a website dedicated to Doxxing and filling Pro-Palestine students. The Trump administration is also suspected of relying on its website, along with other pro-Israel groups, to identify students for deportation.
Additionally, Project Esther has singled the “Middle East/North Africa or Islamic Studies” program with a professor “opposed to Israel.”
The Trump administration has pressured elite universities to revamp their academic departments, including the Middle East Studies Program. Columbia University, for example, has appointed Provosts to review the program on Trump’s request. The “Starting Right from the Middle East” category.
The White House did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
What group do you name Project Esther as targeting Esther?
The initiative explicitly identifies several Arab, Muslim, and progressive Jewish organizations and student groups as part of the so-called Hamas Support Network.
The initiative argues that “the network revolves around American Muslims in Palestine (AMP), an educational and civic advocacy group.”
Osama Abuirshaid, executive director of AMP, said Project Esther points his finger to the group because it has a “Muslim” in its name and plays with Islamophobic bias.
“Palestinian American Muslims are simple targets. Given the tendency to Islamophobia, it’s easy to assume the guilt of American Muslims, Palestinians. That’s a name to stick,” Abuirshaid told Al Jazeera.
He added that the group is also a target as it has an effective and “solid constituency.”
“If they can get lax and defeat the amp, it will have a calm effect in the movement. So if they can defeat us, I think other organizations will stop working on Palestinian solidarity.”
Why focus on universities?
Tarik Kenny Shawa, a US policy fellow at Palestinian think tank Al Shabaka, said Project Esther is targeting universities as Israel has support among young Americans.
“That’s why the overwhelming focus is on university and university campuses,” he told Al Jazeera’s Take Podcast.
Kenny Shawa explained that support for Israel’s war with Gaza is declining across the US demographics. However, on university campuses, the changes are more pronounced.
“This change is absolutely on the entire political spectrum, but it’s clearly much more serious on the left and among the younger Americans,” Kenny Shawa said.
A recent poll from the Pew Research Center showed that 53% of US respondents have negative views about Israel. This rose to 71% of Democrats under the age of 50.
Is Project Esther working?
Supporters say cracking down on the Palestinian Solidarity Movement in the near future will threaten the safety and well-being of activists, especially foreign students. But it also caused a backlash.
“The extreme nature of these attacks encouraged people to continue to speak rebelliously in the face of these attacks,” said JVP Miller.
“And often, awakened people who had not been paying attention to it before have existed in the hypocrisy that has long existed in their willingness to silence and censor Palestinian rights activists.”
In early May, several right-wing lawmakers and Trump allies came out against a bill aimed at increasing restrictions on boycotting in Israel, citing concerns about free speech.
Abuirshaid reflected Miller’s comments. He acknowledged that the media has “distracted” the attacks, arrests and lawsuits on supporters and student protesters from their mission to focus on Palestine.
But he said, “I’m going to be clear. Continuing this fight is energizing us.”
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