The Right’s Latest Blueprint for Authoritarian Takeover (Project Esther)

Written By Leeja Miller

Sources:

Transcript:

Wake up, honey, a new project from the Heritage Foundation just dropped!! And by “just dropped” I mean it has actually been public since October 7th, 2024, but the mainstream media has just picked up on it, in part because a lot of the information about its creation has largely been kept under lock and key by the Heritage Foundation and also because we have watched the strategy laid out by Project Esther unfold before our eyes in the first four months of the Trump administration, so we now know that they weren’t fucking around. Project Esther is The Heritage Foundation’s answer to increasing anti-semitism in the wake of the Oct. 7th, 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel. It claims that there is a “highly organized, global Hamas Support Network (HSN)” supported through numerous Hamas Support Organizations (HSOs) such as Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voices for Peace, that must be pulled out by the root in order to ensure not only the safety of Jews in the US but, more importantly, the very soul of America.

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Project Esther was spearheaded by The Heritage Foundation, the same organization that brought you Project 2025, but written by the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, a coalition of groups formed after the Oct. 7th attacks. Most of those member groups are not Jewish, according to the New York Times, but instead conservative and Christian organizations. These include The Heritage Foundation, as well as the America First Policy Institute, In Defense of Christians, Independent Women’s Forum, Philos Project, and more. According to The New York Times, “Some evangelical Christians have increasingly aligned themselves with conservative political forces in Israel, supporting their claims of biblical dominion over contested Palestinian territories. Many feel a kinship with Israel because of shared religious heritage. But some also believe that supporting Israel will hasten biblical end times, or advance Christianity’s global influence.”

The Project Esther report makes it quite clear that this effort is about more than just protecting Jews, claiming “the indispensable support network of activists and financial supporters that allows the HSN to succeed in its operations has a parallel goal of eliminating capitalism and democracy. Making common cause with the HSN furthers the goals of these anti-American organizations along with those of America’s other enemies.” Indeed, it only takes six pages before the report mentions both Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf and blames the pro-Palestinian movement of seeing the world through the lens of “the victim status of the oppressed.” According to the report, the HSN is made up not only of the student organizations that form the activist and recruitment arm of the network, but also of foundations like the Tides Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which provides the funding and administration wings of this highly-organized network.

And just so we’re clear, as I go through this, when this report says “antisemitic behavior” or “terrorism” they are talking about causes that include speaking out against an ongoing genocide and/or criticizing the Israeli government in any way. But effective propaganda requires an us vs. them purity and a dehumanization of the “enemy” in order to be effective, so writing them all off as part of a terrorist-filled “Hamas support network” is an effective means to an end.

The purpose statement in the Project Esther report says its goal is to “protect not only American Jewry, but the sanctity of the core values derived from our Founding documents that ensure the security and prosperity of all Americans.” Interesting, considering the severe curtailment of civil liberties the document calls for.

The report laments America’s “open society” which allows so-called HSOs to access the US economy and members of the HSN “to access everything in the United States in the same manner as every other American citizen can,” including the Bill of Rights, which allows them to enjoy freedoms of speech and assembly, and the right to vote. Regrettably, this means that HSOs can “organize protests and demonstrations wherever and whenever they choose.”

And the part I just quoted, just by itself lays bare a few things that should concern all of us about Project Esther. And we’re only on page 9. It draws a line between members of the HSN and every other American citizen. It implies that those members of the HSN should not have access to the US economy and the bill of rights, including freedom of speech, as well as the right to vote. It separately laments the rights of foreign HSN members in America and their extensive rights and access to the American system, but the lines drawn are very clear. Foreign HSN members are bad, and also ALL HSN members should be banned from exercising the freedoms in the Bill of Rights and the right to vote. Foreign HSN members, supposedly, would not have the right to vote as they are not citizens. Therefore, it follows that the fact that they lament that members of the HSN can vote indicates that they are interested in stripping these rights from citizens as well. Anyone they can claim is a member of the HSN. Which, as we’ll get into, is a concerningly broad group.

In addition to exploiting America’s open society, the report claims the HSN has corrupted the US education system, specifically through college professors that advocate for and align themselves with HSOs, these include organizations like George Soros’ Open Society Foundations on their list of “Hamas Supporting Organizations,” a broad enough sweep to be able to list dozens of high-profile university professors as “aligned” with the HSN. By aligning with HSOs and supporting pro-Palestine movements, these professors are indoctrinating the youth of America, who are going on to then teach in elementary and high schools to further trickle down this anti-semitic ideology. On top of that, HSOs and foreign (Muslim) governments are flooding universities with money in order to influence the curricula against Israel and Jews.

The HSN is also exploiting American media, quickly gaining attention for every demonstration. They are, according to the report, outnumbering and outpacing any demonstrations in support of Israel in both size and frequency. And, apparently, that is not a sign of the increased popularity of the pro-Palestine movement in the face of an ongoing genocide but, instead, the result of media manipulation. And, the report agrees, they do have a RIGHT to demonstrate. But their ability to access that right is, apparently, lamentable. The report also simultaneously laments the use of TikTok by the HSN to disseminate propaganda and organize. Meanwhile, it claims, there is a “deliberate sanitizing of the Internet” because fewer and fewer search results are popping up featuring anti-semitic acts and demonstrations since the end of the previous spring semester. Reminder this report was published in October, 2024. Weird, it’s almost like there was this three month period of time during which students weren’t protesting on campus from around May to around September. Can’t quite put my finger on why that would be, must be an organized conspiracy to “sanitize the internet.”

So the HSN has the bill of rights, the universities, the media, but also, of course, the government. The report identifies what it calls the “Hamas Caucus” in the US House of Representatives, headlined, of course, by Rashida Tlaib, the only and first Palestinian American in Congress, plus the usual suspects: Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, AOC, and others. And they claim this caucus of neer-do-wells has support in the Senate from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Chris Van Hollen. The fact that 15 Jewish Democrats in the House of Representatives voted against censuring Rashida Tlaib over comments she made about the genocide in Gaza and that all 10 Jewish Senators are Democrats, is, again, not evidence of a popular pro-Palestinian movement or evidence that there are progressive Jews but, instead, evidence of the “strong strain of antisemitism that is running rampant through the progressive left” and “the dangerous complacency and indifference across America’s Jewish community.” Which is a WILD statement. I’ve literally never spoken to a Jewish person who is INDIFFERENT to what’s happening in Israel and Palestine. Insultingly, the report posits that perhaps the problem is that American Jews “simply do not know what to do and are waiting for leadership to guide them.” The disdain the report, and non-Jewish pro-Israel pundits and groups everywhere, seem to have for Jews in clearly evidenced by their condescension and sometimes open hostility towards Jews who don’t fall in line. As we’ll further see, this report is using anti-semitism in America, a very real problem that does exist and should not be allowed to fester, as a means to push through their xenophobic, nationalist, anti-DEI, fear mongering agenda under the guise of giving a shit about Jewish people. But only the right Jews, of course. They say it themselves, concluding “An effective strategy and campaign focused on the HSN will level a decisive blow against both antisemitism and anti-Americanism.” They are careful to say, over and over again, that the fight against the HSN is more than just about the Jews, because let’s be real we don’t actually really care about them, but actually a fight for the very soul of America!!!

So that’s the problem, but what, pray tell, does Project Esther propose we DO about it? So glad you asked. Well they finally get to that around the 20th page of the report. Their timeline is tight: “We will organize rapidly, take immediate action to “stop the bleeding,” and achieve all objectives within two years from the beginning of our efforts. Our hope is that this will represent an opportunity for public–private partnership when a willing Administration occupies the White House.” So everything I’m about to go over should, according to this report, be fully implemented by the end of 2026. Again, reminder, this was published in October 2024, before the election, before they knew Trump would retake the white house, but the authors were apparently betting on a sympathetic White House to carry out Project Esther.

In the report, they identify a series of desired effects of their initiatives against the so-called HSN. These include purging pro-Palestinian curricula, faculty, and HSOs from higher education, including denying university access to foreign members of the HSN. Marginalizing the “Hamas Caucus” in Congress. Barring social media platforms from spreading pro-Palestinian content and generally revoking access to all means by which the HSN communicates and coordinates. A denial of permits for pro-Palestinian demonstrations and intilling a general public unwillingness to join demonstrations (likely through fear). Purging the US of HSN and HSO leadership. And successfully propagandizing US Jews and the larger American public such that the term “HSN” will be akin to the Ku Klux Klan and al-Qaeda in the minds of all Americans.

In order to achieve these goals, the report identifies a number of necessary conditions that must be put in place. This “necessary conditions” list represents the perfect world scenario that would allow them to achieve their goals. These include discrediting HSOs, so the student groups and the non-profits and foundations that this report claims to be supporting the pro-Palestinian cause, which is again a very wide ranging list. Forcing universities to adhere to curricula that promote quote “academic freedom and present multiple perspectives.” But not the ones they don’t agree with, of course. The report advocates for undermining the credibility of pro-Palestinian faculty at universities and the revocation of whatever credentials they may have. Necessary Condition number 8 is quote “HSO members in violation of student visa requirements.” Necessary Condition number 9 is quote “HSO-supporting foreign faculty and staff in violation of visa requirements.” Number 10 is “Foreign HSO leaders and members voluntarily depart the US.” Number 11 is “Foreign HSO leaders and members deported from the US.” The necessary conditions also include barring HSOs from receiving public funds, from making any money. And they include undermining public support for the “Hamas Caucus”, and for HSOs generally, such that progressives no longer want to be affiliated with quote unquote Hamas supporting organizations. Social media platforms won’t host them, users won’t repost them, localities won’t grant them permits for demonstrations, and even if they do they will be so discredited that protestors won’t want to be affiliated with them.

All of the tactics the project will use to achieve those ends are informed by a few key priorities that will guide every member organization of the task force behind Project Esther. These include identifying critical vulnerabilities within the HSN that they can try to exploit. Next is to build a coalition, with the Heritage Foundation as its nexus, of private organizations willing to take action to take down the HSN. Next, propagandize the Jewish American population to be overtly pro-Israel and against the HSN. Next, erode support for the HSN. The report says, quote, “HSN supporters and influence targets must be made to feel extreme discomfort. We will generate that discomfort. We will construct situations so stark that HSN supporters and enablers either will be compelled to change course and capitulate to our pressure campaign or will ultimately fail and render themselves irrelevant by continuing to support organizations that support terrorism.” And then finally, a key component of the project is communication. The coalition will quote “Erode support for antisemitic behavior, expose the individuals and organizations that support it, and laud the individuals and organizations that are effectively countering it to encourage others to join in this effort.”

The report then breaks down four key categories that make up the means by which they will go after their goals. First, through the exploitation of legal authorities: the declaration of independence, the constitution, laws like RICO and other counterterrorism and immigration laws. Next, through a high amount of resources of both money and man power. The money will come from the coalition organizations as well as influencers and high net worth individuals, and it will also require a quote “army of volunteers with the skill sets needed to render the HSN ineffective.” They will do this through the use of existing networks that members of the coalition possess, either through their universities, as high net worth individuals in their own rights, and through their professional expertise as legal scholars and practitioners. And then finally the activities they propose include conducting “research and investigations” to uncover criminal wrongdoing within the HSN, as well academic and financial audits. Then they will name and shame HSN members to undermine their credibility. The report explicitly says quote “We must wage lawfare.” Which is the use of legal processes and litigation to take down a specific target. They call for disrupting HSN communications among each other and with the broader public. And they call for waging large smear campaigns against public officials who are either HSN supporters or even just “fence-sitters” so that they are forced to end support for the HSN or risk losing their power.

The final part of the report acknowledges the potential risks or weaknesses in Project Esther. It explicitly acknowledges that, quote “inadvertent violations of the rights of other Americans, even supporters of HSN and its HSOs, during the conduct of civic operations or activities could expose both individuals and Project Esther to liability.” This is an open acknowledgement that Americans could get their rights trampled on “inadvertently” if they are swept up in the dragnet that this project calls for. To avoid this risk, the report claims “Project Esther will adhere scrupulously to the law—federal, state, and local—and ensure that we do not violate the rights of any HSN or HSO leaders, members, or supporters.” Which is confusing when you first read it because you’re like wait you literally just called for peoples’ first amendment freedoms to be curtailed and for professors and students to be stripped of their credentials and deported while acknowledging that some Americans might also get hurt in the process? But I think this sentiment reveals a very important point. One that I’ve talked about to varying degree before on this show. And that is the pervasiveness of the use of “terrorism” and “national security” as justification for curtailing all manner of civil liberties and constitutional protections. Project Esther is very strategically creating a new terrorist group that is deliberately broad so it can encompass all student protestors, all pro-Palestinian professors, all organizations that may have given money to a pro-Palestinian cause, all universities or localities that failed to stop pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and all members of Congress that they can claim are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. This then gives them carte blanche, under the guise of anti-terrorism efforts, to do whatever they want while still claiming not to be breaking the law. They’re terrorists, so their student visas can be revoked, their pro-terrorist speech can be curtailed, their pro-terrorist demonstrations can be banned, and more. And the US has proven, time and again, especially since 2001, that we are willing to look the other way if we can be sufficiently convinced that these people are all just terrorists so their human rights don’t matter. And other than the few members of the so-called “Hamas Caucus” our government leaders, whether Democrat or Republican, have proven time and again to be unwilling to differentiate between criticisms of the actions of the Israeli government and actual antisemitism. And this does nothing other than hurt people, including Jews, who continue to be subject to antisemitism that is going unaddressed because actual acts of hatred towards Jews for being Jewish are getting swallowed up in the cacophony of “antisemitism” cries anytime any 18 year old makes a Free Palestine sign out of cardboard. This report also exclusively focuses on the claimed anti-semitism committed by the left and does absolutely nothing to address the very real threat of antisemitism coming from the right, another clear indication that this entire project is co-opting the cause of fighting against antisemitism in order to push through a far right, xenophobic, nationalist agenda.

Of course, the Trump administration declined to comment for the New York TImes’ recent piece on Project Esther, and the masterminds behind the plan indicated that they had no idea whether or not the administration was using their plan, once again shrouding Trump’s affiliation with the Heritage Foundation behind a secretive cloak of plausible deniability. One member of the team behind the creation of Project Esther did acknowledge that the Trump regime’s actions and the plan laid out in Project Esther do mirror each other rather starkly…

Which is why I wanted to read this entire report and outline Project Esther today, because whether they admit it or not, it is the blueprint behind the Trump regime’s efforts to use the Pro-Palestine movement as pretext for cutting University funding, culling Universities of progressive faculty and students, and deporting as many people as possible who are legally present in the United States on student or other visas. We have already seen the explicit tactics laid out in this report happening on the streets in the United States. We are four months in. Project Esther promises to be complete within 24 months. So looking at this report also helps us to predict what’s to come.

Here’s what I’ve identified has yet to happen: the report focuses extensively on so-called “Hamas supporting organizations.” It aims to purge their propaganda, professors that support them, and their presence from all educational institutions. The report says these HSOs include “National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP or SJP), alternatively known as the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC); American Muslims for Palestine (AMP); Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP); and [the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network], along with such financial supporters as the Westchester People’s Action Coalition Foundation (WESPAC); Alliance for Global Justice; Tides Foundation; Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Open Society Foundations.” There is, however, no official list included in the report of which organizations are considered HSOs. However, footnote 8 of the report cites to an organization called Canary Mission as the source of the reports list of numbers of HSO-affiliated faculty at various universities. According to its website, quote “Canary Mission documents individuals and organizations that promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews on North American college campuses and beyond. Canary Mission investigates hatred across the entire political spectrum, including the far right, far left and anti-Israel activists.” Canary Mission has profiles on students, professors, professionals, and organizations it deems promote hatred of the USA, Israel, and Jews on college campuses. These do include far right organizations and publications known for antisemitism like the Daily Stormer and David Duke dot com. But it also includes Al Jazeera, the boycott, divestment, sanctions movement, the Council on American Islamic Relations, and more. More unsettling, however, are the lists of profiles of students, professors, and professionals that Canary Mission has compiled. Individuals make it on these lists for signing letters in support of Palestine, attending campus demonstrations, or “showing support” for pro-Palestine encampments on campuses. Most of the profiled students are very young people of color, queer people, and women at elite institutions like Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Princeton. Literally hundreds of individuals accused of antisemitism largely because they showed support for Palestine or condemned the genocide in Gaza. It also includes profiles of what they call “ex-Canaries.” People who have come forward to denounce their past antisemitic behavior and reject their connections to antisemitic organizations. Not a single one comes with any identifying information, of course.

These lists compiled by Canary Mission provide insight into the direction Project Esther may be heading at least as it relates to college campuses, though a lot of these so-called HSOs operate in many areas outside of academia. Many of them have 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. In the original version of the One Big Beautiful bill, the budget reconciliation bill that just passed in the House and is now being debated in the Senate, there was a provision that would have allowed the Treasury Secretary to designate nonprofits as terrorist supporting organizations and revoke their tax exempt status with very little due process protections. It is already illegal to provide material support to terrorist organizations and there is already a process by which the IRS can investigate nonprofits for such activity. The language in the bill would have expanded the Treasury Secretary’s powers and removed due process protections for nonprofits. However, that language did not make it into the final bill passed by the house. That of course doesn’t protect non-profits who this administration deems are providing support to terrorists from investigation, however. Trump has already proven he is willing to call individual organizations out by name not only on social media but also in his attacks on universities and law firms by executive order. The regime has been on a messaging campaign aimed at denouncing any and all pro-Palestinian sentiment as “Pro-Hamas” and therefore in support of terrorism. They have already taken aim at individuals like Mahmoud Khalil, who features prominently on the Canary Mission website, and other students for pro-Palestinian activities, including a Tufts University student for writing a piece in the school newspaper. Again, Project Esther explicitly resents the use of America’s “Open Society” by members of the so-called HSN, and so going after an international student for exercising her free speech rights in the student newspaper or a permanent resident for his right to peaceably assemble, is directly in line with the strategies outlined in Project Esther. I imagine, even without stronger language in the reconciliation bill, we will continue to see so-called HSOs targeted for their 501c3 status and other protections in an attempt to bar them from engaging in the US economy or enjoying the rights that come with living in America’s open society.

There will continue to be pointed PR attacks against the so-called congressional Hamas Caucus, including likely political and primary attacks against anyone up for re-election. The regime and the department of homeland security will likely pounce on any and all opportunities to criminalize members of Congress, like they did with the representatives in New Jersey who were accused of “assaulting” ICE officers. To undermine communication via social media, they are already using social media vetting procedures for student visa applicants, which will silence any sort of pro-Palestinian speech online by anyone interested in coming to the US on a student visa, a number that is dwindling by the day. The fact that so many billionaire heads of social media companies are in the pocket of the administration indicates that perhaps behind the scenes there is further meddling on social media platforms that the pro-Palestinian movement uses for communication. It also explains at least in part why the Trump administration keeps pushing back any TikTok ban–Project Esther makes it clear they plan to use the same tools used by activists in order to spread their own propaganda. Tiktok is an essential element of that communications strategy. After TikTok’s brief 24 hour ban in the US, users whose access was revived all received the same pop-up message that said “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans.” Rumors then swirled that TikTok began censoring anti-Trump content. Those have remained rumors as TikTok keeps details about its algorithm under lock and key. Other reports indicate that, across social media, pro-Palestine content is being censored, flagged, and taken down. That being said, last year in the lead up to the TikTok ban, many legislators were in favor of the ban precisely because they believed it was being used to spread anti-Israel propaganda and brainwash young people to join the pro-Palestine movement. Again, actual data is limited, though a report from the Washington Post indicated TikTok doesn’t have significantly more pro-Palestine content than any other social media platforms. What we do know is that fully half of Americans use TikTok, and the demographic skews incredibly young, meaning that anyone who WANTS to indoctrinate the youth of America might have success reaching them through TikTok content. Which is why TikTok has become such a battleground for lawmakers and others who wish to influence the sentiment in America, especially the all important youth demographic. Get rid of TikTok, and you get rid of a key line of communication, yes for the pro-Palestine movement but also for the forces intent on infiltrating that movement with pro-Israel propaganda.

As with everything in this administration, there is a LOT happening behind the scenes and under the surface, and a lack of transparency combined with an overload of useless information is entirely the point. So it’s unclear what’s to come as the Trump regime attempts to implement Project Esther across the United States. The fact that so many of the tactics laid out in the report have already been implemented, from deporting student visa holders with pro-Palestinian ties, to targeting the funding for Universities that supposedly shelter pro-Palestinian activists and faculty like Harvard and Columbia, indicates that this administration is intent on seeing through this two year plan to root out pro-Palestinian organizations and activists by any means necessary.

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And if you liked this episode, you’ll like the one from last week about the downfall of America’s food safety system. Yikes!

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