Misplaced Pages

Project Esther

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

Project Esther is a an effort by the American conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation to combat antisemitism. It has been criticized for incorporating antisemitic tropes.

History

The project describes pro-Palestinian groups as part of a “Hamas Support Network.” It aims to dismantle the pro-Palestinian movement in America.

The Project has had a hard time finding Jewish organizations with which to partner and has sidelined those which do partner with it.

In January 2024 a Project Esther donor pitch deck was leaked which included a plan to identify and target Misplaced Pages editors which The Heritage Foundation considers antisemitic.

Analysis

According to analysis from Baptist News Global "Project Esther’s own rhetoric about battling powerful Jewish “masterminds” reinforces centuries-old conspiracy theories about Jews who have too much power and influence."

Jacobin describes the effort as constituting part of a red scare against the pro-Palestinian movement and the political left.

According to Slate Project Esther does not acknowledge or address right wing antisemitism or white supremacy and lists left wing Jewish groups like Jewish Voice for Peace among those it seeks to dismantle. Haaretz also says that Project Esther does not address right wing antisemitism.

According to Mondoweiss Project Esther is named after the biblical figure of Esther and is intended not to combat antisemitism but to combat political activism, particularly from the left.

The Times of Israel describes the aim of Project Esther as a "government crackdown on anti-Israel groups once Donald Trump returns to the White House."

According to reporting from Religion Dispatches Project Esther is closely tied to Christian Zionism and in particular the New Apostolic Reformation.

See also

References

  1. Rashid, Hafiz. "Pro-Trump Project 2025 Has Sinister Plan to Crush Palestine Activism". newrepublic.com. The New Republic. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  2. Cohen, Mari. "Repression of journalism under the guise of fighting antisemitism". niemanlab.org. Nieman Lab. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  3. Speri, Alice. "Trump likely to use antisemitism claims to launch crackdown on US universities". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  4. Deutch, Gabby. "Heritage Foundation struggles to find partners in fight against antisemitism". jewishinsider.com. Jewish Insider. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  5. RABEY, STEVE. "Heritage Foundation's antisemitism effort ignores Jewish groups". baptistnews.com. Baptist News Global. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  6. Rosenfeld, Arno. "Scoop: Heritage Foundation plans to 'identify and target' Misplaced Pages editors". forward.com. Forward. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  7. RABEY, STEVE. "Heritage Foundation antisemitism effort recycles conspiracy theories". baptistnews.com. Baptist News Global. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  8. MARCETIC, BRANKO. "Trump Is Planning a Third Red Scare". jacobin.com. Jacobin. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  9. TAMKIN, EMILY. "The Lie Trump Is Offering Jewish Voters". slate.com. Slate. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  10. Samuels, Ben. "haaretz.com". haaretz.com. Haaretz. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  11. PLITNICK, MITCHELL. "Inside Project Esther, the right wing action plan to take down the Palestine movement". mondoweiss. mondoweiss. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  12. ELIA-SHALEV, ASAF. "Realizing old tactics aren't enough, US Jewish groups use science to fight antisemitism". timesofisrael.com. The Times of Israel. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  13. LORBER, BEN. "HERITAGE FOUNDATION'S CHRISTIAN NATIONALIST 'PROJECT ESTHER' WON'T COMBAT ANTISEMITISM — BUT IT WILL WEAPONIZE JEWS". religiondispatches.org. Religious Dispatches. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
Categories: