Project Esther
A threat to the very foundations of democratic expression and civic participation
The Blueprint
In October 2024, the Heritage Foundation — the same think tank behind Project 2025 — released "Project Esther: A National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism." Despite its name, civil rights organizations, academic coalitions, and many Jewish groups have identified it as something else entirely: a roadmap for dismantling the Palestinian rights movement in the United States by relabeling advocacy, protest, and criticism of Israeli government policy as antisemitism and terrorism.
The plan designates pro-Palestinian organizations — including groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, American Muslims for Palestine, and Students for Justice in Palestine — as part of what it calls a "Hamas Support Network." From there, it lays out a 19-point strategy covering visa revocations and deportations, university funding cuts, curriculum censorship, faculty terminations, surveillance infrastructure, and the use of racketeering laws against advocacy organizations.
From Blueprint to Reality.
This isn't theoretical. Over the past two years, major elements of Project Esther have already moved from paper to policy:
An executive order threatening non-citizens with arrest and deportation for criticizing Israeli policy or protesting the war in Gaza
Hundreds of visa revocations targeting international students and visitors
Federal letters to dozens of universities threatening enforcement action over campus protests
Detentions and deportation proceedings against student activists
Faculty suspensions and terminations tied to pro-Palestinian advocacy
Expanding surveillance of student groups and activist networks
Independent analyses suggest more than half of Project Esther's recommendations have already been implemented at the federal level.
Why This Connects to Our Work
Project Esther isn't just a campus issue or a federal issue — it's the strategic context for why the legislative fights Democrats for Palestinian Rights -Bay Area is engaged in matter.
The Khanna-Massie NDAA Amendment Project Esther's strategy depends on insulating U.S.-Israel military cooperation from Congressional scrutiny. It explicitly targets members of Congress who raise these questions, branding them part of a so-called "Hamas Caucus." The Khanna-Massie amendment, which pushes back on deepening U.S.-Israeli military integration, represents exactly the kind of oversight Project Esther is designed to marginalize.
The Block the Bombs Act (H.R. 3565) Restricting arms transfers tied to violations of international humanitarian law runs directly counter to Project Esther's goal of shielding U.S. military support for Israel from domestic political accountability. This bill is a concrete test of whether Congress can still exercise independent judgment on these questions.
California AB 2159 (Student Free Speech Protections) This is the most direct counterweight. Project Esther's own stated goals include purging curriculum of content it deems sympathetic to Palestinians and removing faculty and staff who support pro-Palestinian advocacy. AB 2159 protects students' right to engage in this advocacy without fear of discipline or censorship — directly defending against the exact mechanism Project Esther is built to exploit.
The Bottom Line
These three issues aren't separate fights. They are three points of resistance to a coordinated strategy that uses the language of fighting antisemitism to suppress speech, advocacy, and oversight on Palestinian rights. Understanding Project Esther helps explain why local school board meetings, Congressional votes on defense spending, and arms transfer legislation are all connected — and why showing up on each of these fronts matters.Independent analyses suggest more than half of Project Esther's recommendations have already been implemented at the federal level.
Sources: Heritage Foundation, Institute for Middle East Understanding, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Nexus Project, Jewish Voice for Peace, and reporting from Newsweek and Snopes.