PROJECT ESTHER

A National Strategy to


Combat Antisemitism
National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism

October 7, 2024
 October 7, 2024 | 1

PROJECT ESTHER
A National Strategy to
Combat Antisemitism
National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism

T
he Torah, in the Book of Esther (Megillat Esther), tells us that in the
mid-fourth century BCE, a thriving Jewish community in ancient
Persia risked extermination. Haman, Persian King Ahasuerus’s
Prime Minister (Vizier), angry because Mordecai, a Jew, refused to bow to
him, told the King:

There is a certain people scattered and separate among the peoples through-


out all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws differ from [those of]
every people, and they do not keep the king’s laws; it is [therefore] of no use
for the king to let them be. If it pleases the king, let it be written to destroy
them, and I will weigh out ten thousand silver talents into the hands of those
who perform the work, to bring [it] into the king’s treasuries.1

With the King’s approval, Haman plotted to kill every Jew in Persia, draw-
ing lots (purim) to determine the day of their execution. Unbeknownst to
either the King or Haman, Ahasuerus’s new Queen Esther was a Jew and
therefore marked for death. Additionally, Mordecai—the man who had so
enraged Haman—was also Esther’s cousin. Mordecai encouraged her to use
her position and influence to beseech the King to reverse course:

Do not imagine to yourself that you will escape in the king’s house from among
all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and rescue will arise for
the Jews from elsewhere, and you and your father’s household will perish; and
who knows whether at a time like this you will attain the kingdom?2

Esther mustered the courage to oblige her cousin’s plea and convinced King
Ahasuerus to reverse course. The result: Haman and his family were hanged,
Mordecai replaced Haman as the King’s Vizier, and the Jewish people were
 2 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

saved. As Rabbi Joseph Telushkin so aptly points out, “the character of Haman
unfortunately is far from unique in the Jewish experience. As one bitter Yid-
dish proverb summarizes the unhappier episodes of Jewish history, ‘So many
Hamans, and only one *Purim.’”3
Today, Israel, Jews everywhere, and Americans face yet another “Haman.”
The question remains: Will we face the threat as Esther did so many centuries
ago or capitulate to intimidation and fear?

 October 7, 2024 | 3

Executive Summary

Purpose. Named after the historic Jewish heroine who saved the Jews
from genocide in ancient Persia, Project Esther provides a blueprint to
counter antisemitism in the United States and ensure the security and
prosperity of all Americans.
Introduction. Antisemitism in the United States of America is alive
and spreading. Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel laid bare
existing antisemitism across the world, including the United States. The
virulently anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and anti-American groups comprising
the so-called pro-Palestinian movement inside the United States are exclu-
sively pro-Palestine and—more so—pro-Hamas. They are part of a highly
organized, global Hamas Support Network (HSN) and therefore effectively
a terrorist support network.
Current Situation. The HSN’s strategic purpose inside the United
States is to generate internal political pressure to compel the United States
government to change its long-standing policy of support for Israel. Within
the United States, the HSN receives the indispensable support of a vast
network of activists and funders with a much more ambitious, insidious


goal—the destruction of capitalism and democracy. As their ends align, the
HSN and its nihilist supporters indoctrinate the gullible into supporting
Hamas and hating Israel to create the street mayhem that serves their ends.
This network is nominally American but benefits from the support and
training of America’s overseas enemies. Its members hope to achieve their
goals by taking advantage of our open society, corrupting our education
system, leveraging the American media, coopting the federal government,
and relying on the American Jewish community’s complacency.
Mission Statement. The National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism
leads a coalition to dismantle the infrastructure that sustains the HSN and
associated movements’ antisemitic violence inside the United States of
America within 12 to 24 months to restore equal protection under the law
for all Americans.
Vision (Intent). Our intent is to organize and guide all willing and able
partners in a coordinated effort that employs all available resources to
combat the scourge of antisemitism in the United States. Our hope is that
this effort will represent an opportunity for public–private partnership
when a willing Administration occupies the White House.
 4 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

Ends

l Goal. Ensure that U.S.-based antisemitic movements are incapable of

threatening U.S. citizens with violence.

l Objective. Dismantle the pro-Hamas support network’s infrastruc-

ture across America.

Priorities (Methods/Ways)

Guide coalition members toward thematically grouped, distinct, but

mutually supportive lines of effort (LOE), described in the accompa-
nying Campaign Plan, that integrate to varying degrees the following
methods (ways).

l Expose the critical resources fueling antisemitism. Gain a

comprehensive understanding of the infrastructure that sustains
individuals and organizations supporting Hamas.


l Mobilize a coalition of private organizations. Build and coordi-

nate the efforts and activities of private organizations in the U.S. to
achieve combined effects.

l Erode support for antisemitism. Exploit fissures within and among

antisemites and affiliated organizations and their target audiences.

l Synchronize coalition actions to maximize impact. Orchestrate

actions and activities across society in collaboration (where appropri-
ate) with federal and state government to achieve the desired impact
and align resources toward priorities.

l Focus. Disrupt and degrade networks and deny them the resources
they need to conduct and sustain antisemitic behavior.

l Communicate. Erode support for antisemitic behavior, expose the

individuals and organizations supporting such conduct to discourage
it, and laud the individuals and organizations effectively countering it
to encourage others to join.
 October 7, 2024 | 5

Means

Organize and focus a broad coalition of willing and able partners to

leverage existing—and, if required, work to establish additional—authorities,
resources, capabilities, and activities.

Risk

There is risk both in doing nothing and in doing something. If left alone,
the HSN and its affiliated Hamas Support Organizations (HSOs) could
become irrelevant or discredit themselves (although current trends and
geopolitical conditions do not support this conclusion). At the same time, if
Project Esther succeeds, it could reinforce a “blood libel” narrative, lending
credence to an HSN “blame the Jews” mantra and expanded antisemitism.
It is therefore incumbent upon us to integrate measures to mitigate the
negative consequences that could result from success.


 6 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

The Strategy

The Silent Majority is too often irrelevant between elections. It must

break its silence and speak. In a democracy, the Silent Majority must be
heard to have an effect lest a louder, more vocal minority unjustly control
the narrative and generate a distorted perception of political legitimacy.
We intend to help America’s Silent Majority recover its voice and convert
its words into actions to render impotent an illegitimate, hateful minority
that threatens America’s soul.
Project Esther’s Purpose. Our goal is to provide a strategic blueprint to
all Americans who are willing to counter antisemitism in the United States
so that they can 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.
Introduction. Antisemitism in the United States of America is alive and
spreading. This antisemitism had been rekindled for decades before Octo-
ber 7, 2023, by the promotion of a view that reduces all human interaction
to a heroic struggle between the oppressed and their oppressors. The victim
status of the oppressed, in this view, grants them license to pursue any


course of action. Jews, Israelis, and all proud Americans in this case have
been cast in the role of the implacable oppressors and the Palestinians, Arab
or Muslim, in the role of their victims. While this understanding of history
comes straight from the pages of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, it can
also be traced to Soviet agitprop and found in Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and
other Nazi propaganda, which portrayed the Jew as the conniving exploiter
of the pure and innocent German.
The anti-Israel and anti-Zionist Jew-haters attempting to lay siege to our
education system, political processes, and government have not simply been
influenced by this way of thinking—they have enthusiastically adopted it.
This makes them a threat not just to American Jewry, but to all Americans.
Their ideology and actions directly challenge and attempt to undermine
the American values that are fundamental to our way of life, our nation’s
success, and our future.

l Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel laid bare this

existing and underlying antisemitism around the world, including in
the United States. The forces that cynically fanned this antisemitism
exposed by October 7 pounced on Hamas’s pogrom, intending to use
it as a George Floyd–style event to spring onto center stage and grab a
giant microphone. The attack confirmed two things.
 October 7, 2024 | 7

l Hamas—a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO)—is not

a freedom movement. It is a hateful death cult bent on exterminating
Jews and destroying their historic homeland.4

Those supporters of Palestine and Hamas who have claimed for decades
that criticizing Israel’s policies does not equate to antisemitism are at best
insincere. They have simply masked their antisemitism in a thin veneer
of political rhetoric to disguise their true intent—the destruction of the
Jewish state of Israel.
Had the intent of these critics been otherwise—had their goal truly been
to change Israeli policies they found disagreeable—the so-called pro-Pal-
estinian movement would not have organized so quickly across the world,
including inside the United States, and immediately degenerated into the
commission of blatant acts of antisemitism specifically targeting Jews. In
2023, The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tabulated 8,873 antisemitic
incidents across the United States, a 140 percent increase from 2022 and
the highest the ADL has recorded since it began tracking the statistic in
1979. The dramatic increase occurred following Hamas’s October 7 terrorist
attack on Israel. “Between October 7 and the end of 2023, ADL tabulated


5,204 incidents—more than the incident total for the whole of 2022.”5
The rallying cry of these “pro-Palestinian” organizations—“From the
River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!”—begs the question: Free from what?
Free from Hamas? Free from a corrupt Palestinian Authority? To the con-
trary, Hamas’s actions and the refusal of these “pro-Palestine” groups to
hold Hamas accountable for its October 7 murder and atrocities have made
clear that both Hamas and the broader Palestinian movement simply want
to lay claim to Israeli territory and “free” it of Jews.
In this light, the virulently anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, anti-American
groups comprising the “pro-Palestinian” movement, including those that
merely use this issue cynically in the furtherance of other goals, both abroad
and inside the United States, are exclusively pro-Palestine, part of a highly
organized global Hamas Support Network (HSN) and therefore effectively
a terrorist support network. Although the HSN and the individual HSOs
that comprise it—such as 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
Samidoun, along with such financial supporters as the Westchester People’s
Action Coalition Foundation (WESPAC); Alliance for Global Justice; Tides
Foundation; and Rockefeller Brothers Fund, to name a few—have risen to
the fore of the American public’s view since Hamas initiated its war against
 8 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

Israel and Jews, the network has been active for years, infiltrating and
entrenching itself in key institutions across the United States.6 The HSN
and its affiliated HSOs are likely in every state in the Union, are active on
most university and college campuses, are likely connected by both ideology
and other tangible ties, and have managed to extend their influence into the
highest reaches of the United States government.
Moreover, 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. Thus, the HSN poses a threat not simply
to American Jewry, but to America itself.
Extirpating the influence of the HSN from our society will not be easy,
but extirpate it we must.
***
The Hamas Support Network. We define the Hamas Support Network
(HSN) inside America as the people and organizations that are both directly
and indirectly involved in furthering Hamas’s cause in contravention of Amer-
ican values and to the detriment of American citizens and America’s national


security interests. Driven by an ideology that is decidedly antisemitic, anti-Is-

rael, and anti-American, the network revolves around American Muslims
for Palestine (AMP). AMP supports and motivates such national affiliated
HSOs as National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP, or SJP) and Jewish
Voices for Peace (JVP), among many others. Housed under the umbrella of
academic institutions, and comprised of students, faculty, and staff, these
HSOs serve as AMP’s “action arms,” recruiting members; disseminating
propaganda; coordinating and conducting rallies; leading demonstrations;
and intimidating Jews, academic administrations, and local governments.
A coalition of leftist, progressive organizations such as the Open Society
Foundations, Tides Foundation, and numerous others whose broader goals
generally align with those of AMP and its associated HSOs provides financial
resources and other material support such as equipment, training, and advice
and consulting services across the HSN. The material and administrative
connective tissue common to the leadership, members, and organizations
comprising the HSN forms its infrastructure. This infrastructure supports
and includes propaganda dissemination to spread HSN ideology, financial
aggregation and distribution, policy and legislative support, communications,
and the legal veil under which the HSN operates.

***
 October 7, 2024 | 9

Current Situation (Framing the Problem). We assess that the HSN’s

strategic purpose inside the United States is to sow internal dissension
and generate enough political pressure, in conjunction with international
efforts, to compel the United States government to change its long-standing
policy of support for Israel—the only true democracy in the Middle East, the
United States’ most stalwart ally in the region, and one of its most import-
ant allies in the world generally. Furthermore, the activists and funding
sources that make up the indispensable support network that allows the
HSN to succeed in its operations have a parallel goal of eliminating capi-
talism and democracy. The HSN’s success would lead to one or more of the
following results:

l Legitimization of the protests in an effort to make their antisemitism

and calls for genocide acceptable;

l The erosion of resources and diplomatic support from the United

States to Israel in its war against Hamas and decreased assis-
tance generally;


l Deterioration in Israel’s relations with, and eventually a complete
break with, its most strategic ally, the United States; and

l Passive or overt unilateral U.S. recognition of a Palestinian entity, to

include Hamas.

Regrettably, it appears that the Biden–Harris Administration is on track

to do all of these things.
In the wake of the October 7 attacks and Israel’s ongoing defensive war to
destroy Hamas, it has become clear that the HSN and its component HSOs
have worked diligently over a long period of time to set conditions for their
strategy’s success. Their strategy includes the following:

l Take advantage of our open society. America’s open society affords

resident members of the HSN and its HSOs the ability to access
everything in the United States in the same manner as every other
American citizen can. Foreign HSN members residing in America (as
students or under other temporary conditions) also have extensive
rights and access to the American system. Members may come and go
freely, as they please. HSOs have complete access to the U.S. economy
to generate and spend money as they see fit. And just as every other
 10 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

American is, they are protected under the Bill of Rights and enjoy
all of the freedoms that go with it, including the freedoms of speech
and assembly, and the right to vote. HSOs can organize protests and
demonstrations wherever and whenever they choose.

l As of May 30, 2024, the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for
Democratic Governance and Innovation’s Crowd Counting Consor-
tium (CCC) had “logged more than 3,700 days with [pro-Palestine]
protest activity at 525 different colleges, universities, K–12 schools,
and school district offices across 317 different U.S. cities and towns”
since October 7, 2023. Additionally, approximately two-fifths
(nearly 1,500) of those school protest days occurred before April 17,
2024—the day the Gaza Solidarity Encampment was established at
Columbia University. As the CCC’s own data and analysis indicate,
“this wave of pro-Palestine campus activity began almost immedi-
ately after October 7, 2023; crescendoed in late April and early May
2024; and continues apace, even as many U.S. schools have already
entered final exam periods or begun their summer breaks.”7


l Corrupt the U.S. education system. HSOs have infiltrated their

ideology into the U.S. education system across all levels. It is pervasive.
The U.S. education system fosters antisemitism under the guise of
“pro-Palestinian,” anti-Israel, anti-Zionist narratives across universi-
ties, high schools, and elementary schools, often under the umbrella or
within the rubric of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and similar
Marxist ideology.

l As of July 29, 2024, Canary Mission had documented that at least

856 professors at over 240 universities across 46 states and the Dis-
trict of Columbia, along with four Canadian provinces, had openly
advocated or supported up to 63 different HSOs, often within the
context of their classes, membership in HSOs, or participation
in anti-Israel demonstrations.8 Twenty-one of those universities
had professors of this ilk in the double digits, including Barnard
(12); California State University–Northridge (17); CUNY Genesee
Community College (14); Columbia (70); Cornell (12); Fordham
(10); Georgetown (16); Harvard (17); NYU (28); Princeton (30);
Rutgers (14); San Francisco State University (10); Stanford (10);
Syracuse (18); UC Berkeley (28); UC Davis (18); UCLA (17);
UCSB (12); University of Hawaii Manoa (10); University of Illinois
 October 7, 2024 | 11

CHART 1

Demonstrations: Pro-Israel vs. Pro-Palestine

California
New York
Massachusetts
Virginia
Pennsylvania
Washington
Wash., D.C.
Arizona
Texas
Wisconsin Pro-Israel
Michigan
Minnesota
Maine Pro-Palestine
Illinois
New Jersey From October 8, 2023, through
Indiana August 31, 2024, more than 18,000
North Carolina demonstrations took place in the
Missouri U.S. in support of either Israel or
Ohio
Palestine. The vast majority were
Colorado
Oregon pro-Palestine (80 percent).
Florida Among states with 200 or more
Idaho total demonstrations, only three
Connecticut states—New Jersey, Florida, and
New Mexico Maryland—had pro-Israel
Iowa demonstrations total at least half
Maryland
the number of pro-Palestine


Georgia
Rhode Island demonstrations.
Hawaii
New Hampshire
Tennessee
Vermont
Montana
Kansas
Arkansas
Louisiana
Nevada
Nebraska
Utah
South Carolina
Kentucky
Oklahoma
Alabama
West Virginia
Alaska
Delaware
Mississippi
Wyoming
South Dakota
North Dakota
0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500
DEMONSTRATIONS BY STATE, OCT. 8, 2023–AUG. 31, 2024

SOURCE: Harvard Kennedy School, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, “Crowd Counting
Consortium: Israel/Palestine Protest Data Dashboards,” February 26, 2024,
https://ash.harvard.edu/articles/crowd-counting-blog-israel-palestine-protest-data-dashboards/ (accessed August
9, 2024), and Heritage Foundation calculations.

SR291 A heritage.org
 12 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

Urbana–Champaign (13); and University of Pennsylvania (16).9 Five

of the eight Ivy League schools can add membership on this list to
their prestige. It is no wonder the country witnessed antisemitic
mobs of students, faculty, staff, and other supporters at Columbia,
NYU, and Princeton, to name only a few, on the eve of the Jewish
holiday of Passover following Congress’s passage of a funding bill in
support of Israel—a bill that included $9 billion for humanitarian
aid to Gaza.

l Foreign money from wealthy supporters of the Palestinian cause

flows freely into U.S. academic institutions as a way to influence
curricula against Israel and Jews. According to an October 2020
report from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of the Gen-
eral Counsel:

[T]here is very real reason for concern that foreign money buys influ-
ence or control over teaching and research. Disclosure and transparency
might mitigate the harm to some extent. However, the evidence shows
the industry has at once massively underreported while also anonymiz-


ing much of the money it did disclose, all to hide foreign sources (and,
correspondingly, their influence on campus) from the Department and
the public. Since 2012, institutions reported anonymous donations from
China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Russia totaling more than $1.14 billion.10

l The extent of foreign influence over the hearts and minds of Amer-
ican youth may be far worse. According to an even more recent
report by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) in
conjunction with Bar Ilan University’s Institute for the Study of
Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), “[a] massive influx of
foreign donations to American institutions of higher learning,
much of it concealed and from authoritarian regimes, with notable
support from Middle Eastern sources, reflects or supports height-
ened levels of intolerance towards Jews, open inquiry, and free
expression.”11 The report further concluded that “[t]his relationship
of foreign funding to campus antisemitism was stronger when the
donors were Middle Eastern regimes rather than other regimes.”12
The largest donor was Qatar ($2.693 billion from 2014–2019),
which currently serves as Hamas’s proxy in ongoing negotiations to
release Israeli hostages held by the terrorist group.13
 October 7, 2024 | 13

l In short, these “professors” in universities and colleges, often insu-

lated in the comfortable halls of social sciences departments and
Middle East/North Africa or Islamic studies programs, are decid-
edly antisemitic and hostile to Israel.14 The result is that additional
professors and teachers, social activists, and other “experts” across
all professional fields are indoctrinated into Hamas’s antisemitic
ideology, which then trickles down and permeates our elementary
and secondary education systems, proliferating their toxic tropes
throughout curricula—and the minds of American youth.

l Leverage the American media. The HSN and HSOs have mastered
the use of America’s liberal media environment. They are quick to gain
attention for any and every demonstration, no matter how large or
small, from every network across the country. They make ample use of
their right to do so, outnumbering and outpacing any demonstrations
in support of Israel in both size and frequency.

l The HSN and HSOs have made prolific and unchecked use of social
media platforms, such as TikTok, across the entire digital ecosys-


tem to spout antisemitic propaganda. Additionally, these social
media platforms provide the perfect means of communication and
coordination among HSO members and between HSOs, strength-
ening the broader HSN.

l Of equal concern, over the weeks and months since the end of the
last semester and the waning of campus protests, demonstrations,
and encampments, finding recorded examples of the antisemitic
statements and actions that America witnessed in real time has
become ever more difficult. Internet searches for pictures of stu-
dents and pro-Palestine protesters spouting antisemitic tropes,
displaying disgusting antisemitic signs, and video capturing acts
of violence against Jews return less and less relevant results.
Whether it is under the pretense of not wanting to spread antise-
mitic propaganda, for fear of lawsuits, or because of a desire to dull
the antisemitic edge of protesters, it looks as though a deliberate
sanitizing of the Internet is occurring.

l Coopt the federal government. It should be obvious at this point

even to the casual observer that there is an active cabal of Jew-haters,
Israel-haters, and America-haters in Washington—all apparently
 14 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

aligned with the far left, progressive movement. Given their leftist
orbit, they are likely funded and supported by the same backers
that support the HSN and its HSOs, which actively leverage these
government officials to give their cause the gravitas of Washington’s
progressive elite—in terms of platform, publicity, and even law—to
the detriment of the American people. Moreover, whether it is by
design or the result of pressure or incompetence, the executive branch
appears to be unwilling to confront, pursue, or prosecute any HSO
legal violations.

l The “Hamas Caucus” in the House of Representatives consists of a

core group of roughly a dozen of the more “progressive” Members.
They include Rashida Tlaib (D–MI); Ilhan Omar (D–MN); Cori
Bush (D–MO);15 Jamaal Bowman (D–NY);16 Summer Lee (D–PA);
Ayana Pressley (D–MA); Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–NY); Greg
Casar (D–TX); Andre Carson (D–IN); Hank Johnson (D–GA); Jan
Schakowsky (D–IL); Mark Pocan (D–WI); and Pramila Jayapal (D–
WA). Collectively, they have consistently expressed their anti-Israel
bias through numerous statements in speeches and to the press.


Often forced to apologize or “walk back” their statements because

of “ignorance” or “unintended hurtfulness,” their retractions seem
insincere at best and reflective of the unqualified anti-Israel posi-
tions demonstrated in their voting records. The “Hamas Caucus”
has support in the Senate from Bernie Sanders (I–VT); Chris Van
Hollen (D–MD); Elizabeth Warren (D–MA); and, to varying degrees,
several others.

l On November 7, 2023, the House of Representatives voted to

censure Rashida Tlaib for promoting false narratives regarding
the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the
destruction of the state of Israel. The resolution was adopted by
a vote of 234 to 188. Of the 220 Republicans in the House at that
time, 212 voted for censure; of the 212 Democrats, only 22 voted for
the resolution.

l Even more disturbing, while there are only two Jewish Republicans
in the House of Representatives, there are 25 Jewish Demo-
crats—almost 12 percent of the Democratic representation. Both
Republicans voted in favor of censure, compared to only 10 Dem-
ocrats. In fact, more Jewish Democrats (15) voted against censure
 October 7, 2024 | 15

than voted for it, while more non-Jewish Democrats (12) joined
their remaining 10 Jewish colleagues voting in favor of censure.
That the political party with more elected Jewish Representatives
chose political expediency over the morally correct position against
antisemitism is striking. It is indicative of the strong strain of
antisemitism that is running rampant through the progressive left
in concert with the dangerous complacency and indifference across
America’s Jewish community.

l In the Senate, Bernie Sanders, an Independent who caucuses with

the Democratic Party, is one of 10 Jewish Senators whose anti-Is-
rael positions are both notorious and inexplicable. The nine other
Jewish Senators are Democrats, including Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer (NY).

l In May 2023, the Biden–Harris Administration applauded itself

for publishing the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter
Antisemitism. Less than one year later, antisemitism runs rampant
across the country’s universities. This may be due to the completely


feckless nature of the Biden–Harris Administration and its policies;
the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism appears to have
more to do with furthering the progressive left’s obsession with
LGBTQ+ and all other minorities than it has to do with anything
substantive in countering antisemitism.17 More disconcerting, it
may reflect a deliberate effort to avoid countering antisemitism.
The Biden–Harris Administration’s policies vis-à-vis the Middle
East—particularly with respect to Iran and the Palestinians—have
been decidedly anti-Israel and filled with disdain for the United
States’ other traditional regional allies. This is perhaps because the
Administration employs documented past members of the HSN,
such as Maher Bitar, currently a Deputy Assistant to the President
and Coordinator for Intelligence and Defense Policy and a former
leader of SJP at Georgetown University in 2006, where he also
promoted Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS).

l Rely on the American Jewish community’s complacency. The

American Jewish community has not demonstrated a unified resolve
against the HSN, its HSOs, and their program of Jew-hatred and Amer-
ica-hatred. While a strong, capable element has mustered financial,
political, and moral support both for the Jewish state of Israel and for
 16 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

efforts to counter academic intolerance in some select institutions,

particularly at the administrator level, significant components of the
community remain disengaged. Some may be blind and deaf to the
manifestation of HSN-inspired antisemitism at home. Some may be
in such disbelief that they cannot even acknowledge the threat. More
likely, many simply do not know what to do and are waiting for leader-
ship to guide them.

l The HSN can muster a constant stream of media-attracting

demonstrations and protests across the country, but the American
Jewish community remains relegated to singular, large, ineffective
bursts of symbolic activity with no support from other special-in-
terest groups.

l This is particularly disconcerting and sad as over the past decades,

significant elements of the American Jewish community, partic-
ularly the Reformed Jewish movement, have supported—even
led—a multitude of liberal causes célèbres, including pro-Palestine
organizations. Yet, when American Jews were directly threatened


by an existential enemy, none of those supposed allies showed up to

support them.

l The American Jewish community did not even utter a whimper

when left-of-center Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer—himself Jewish—called for Israeli Prime Minister Net-
anyahu’s ouster for no apparent reason other than Netanyahu’s
being on Israel’s political right.

Problem Statement. How do we simultaneously neutralize the domes-

tic tension placed on the U.S.–Israel relationship and counter the related
rise in antisemitism across the United States, which threatens not just the
American Jewish community, but America itself?
There are plenty of antisemitic organizations across the United States.
There also are several major anti-American organizations working to
unravel the fabric of American society. However, what the two separate
elements of this problem statement share is the Hamas Support
Network, which has also become a useful focal point and action arm
for anti-American efforts. The HSN is a threat not simply because of its
demonstrated intent, but also because of the resources that make it capable.
 October 7, 2024 | 17

We must therefore direct our efforts against the HSN. An effective strategy
and campaign focused on the HSN will level a decisive blow against
both antisemitism and anti-Americanism.
Mission Statement (Tentative). The National Task Force to Combat
Antisemitism leads a coalition to dismantle the infrastructure that sustains
the HSN and associated movements’ antisemitic violence inside the United
States of America within 12 to 24 months to restore equal protection under
the law for Americans.
Vision (Intent). The Task Force’s intent is to organize and guide all
willing and able partners in a coordinated effort employing all available
resources to combat the scourge of antisemitism in the U.S. By completion
of Project Esther, we intend that the HSN and its composite HSOs will cease
to exist as a functional, effective support apparatus for Hamas inside the
United States. They will not be able to generate any political pressure on
the U.S. government or the U.S.–Israel relationship. No American will need
to fear intimidation from a terrorist support network that uses our own
open society against us. 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.
***
America has been here before. Between World War I and World War
II, the United States witnessed the rise of a highly organized, nationwide
group of American Nazis known as the German–American Bund.18 After
undergoing numerous earlier iterations, the group finally coalesced around
its highly charismatic American “Bundesfuhrer” Fritz Kuhn and worked to
inculcate Nazism within America’s large German–American communities.
The Bund generated income, held large rallies replete with Nazi-style uni-
forms and swastikas, ran family and youth camps, and coordinated actions
to implement a near mirror-image version of Hitler’s Nazi Germany here in
the United States.
Though the Bund cloaked itself in what it portrayed as American values
inseparable from Nazi philosophy, key Americans—including Jews—saw
the Bund for what it was: an antisemitic de facto extension of the German
Nazi machine propagating across the United States. American civil soci-
ety responded in kind, recognizing the threat to America and mobilizing a
whole-of-community effort to counter the Bund.
Famed journalist Walter Winchell, himself a Jew, relentlessly exposed and
attacked Kuhn and the Bund from his New York City–based media perch, and
 18 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

Jewish Hollywood media moguls organized protests and generated anti-Bund

content. Great American politicians initiated efforts to stymie the Bund at
all levels, from New York City’s half-Jewish, half-Catholic Mayor Fiorello
LaGuardia to prosecutor and future New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey.
New York Democratic Congressman Samuel Dickstein, a Lithuanian-born
Jew, worked with Texas Congressman Martin Dies to establish the House of
Representatives’ Special Committee on Un-American Activities, also known as
the Dies Committee, charged with uncovering Nazi and Communist activities
inside the United States.19 Law enforcement and the underworld worked in
parallel to target the Bund. While J. Edgar Hoover’s Federal Bureau of Inves-
tigation worked to investigate Bund criminal activity,20 Jewish gangsters like
Meyer Lansky, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, Abner “Longy” Zwillman, and Meyer
“Mickey” Cohen—sometimes at the behest of their rabbis—happily coordinated
“less than kosher” activities, pro bono, to disrupt and thwart the Bund.
Combined, these efforts severely weakened the Bund. The Dies Commit-
tee’s investigations uncovered the extent of the Bund’s activities. Successful
criminal prosecutions disrupted leadership, drained the Bund’s funds, and
exposed internal fraud, waste, and abuse at the expense of Bund members
of modest means, severely weakening the national network. Large protests


and counterdemonstrations disrupted the Bund’s rallies. Winchell’s public

ridicule amassed a massive American following, allowing him almost sin-
gle-handedly to counter the Bund’s Nazi propaganda. Many key Bund leaders
fled the United States. By the eve of World War II, the Bund was a hollow shell
of its former self and had ceased to function as a national network capable of
spreading Nazi ideology. America’s entry into the war on December 7, 1941,
all but sealed the Bund’s fate.
***
The Strategy. Project Esther’s strategy follows a standard ends, ways,
21

means, and risk construct. The project has a strategic goal directly sup-
ported by two strategic objectives. Realizing this goal and attaining the
objectives will require achieving a series of desired end state criteria in
direct contravention of the nature of the current situation. The eventual
actions we take under the umbrella of the project will set conditions and
generate effects that contribute to achieving the desired end state, attaining
our strategic objectives, and realizing our goal.
Ends. Project Esther’s ends reflect what we intend to accomplish. While
broadly designed to counter antisemitism, they are scoped specifically
with respect to the HSN, its HSOs, and the antisemitic ideology threaten-
ing America. While arguments may be made to expand and include other
antisemitic problem sets, no other antisemitic organization or movement
 October 7, 2024 | 19

threatens American Jewry and Western civilization more than the HSN
does at this moment in time. Therefore, and in line with the problem state-
ment and its mission, Project Esther will remain laser-focused on the HSN.
Everything that follows—from the ways to specific actions—should contrib-
ute to the achievement of these ends.
Strategic Goal. Our strategic goal is for U.S.-based antisemitic move-
ments to be incapable of threatening U.S. citizens with violence.
Strategic Objective. The following concrete strategic objective directly
supports realization of our strategic goal:
Dismantle the pro-Hamas support network’s infrastructure across Amer-
ica, including but not limited to propaganda, organizations, funds, access,
communications, platforms, and people.
Desired End State (ES). Establishing the following criteria, which
mirror current conditions, will achieve our desired end state:

l ES1: HSO propaganda eradicated from the U.S. education system

at all levels.

ES2: HSOs unable to disseminate propaganda inside the United States.


l

l ES3: HSOs no longer have access to U.S. open society.

l ES4: HSOs no longer have access to the U.S. economy.

l ES5: HSN loses access to Congress.

l ES6: Executive branch confronts, pursues, and prosecutes HSO legal

and criminal violations.

l ES7: HSOs’ communications disrupted.

l ES8: HSOs rendered unable to conduct or sustain demonstrations

and protests.

l ES9: U.S. Jewish community (and allies) unified against HSOs.

l ES10: American public broadly united against HSN/HSOs.

l ES11: Critical vulnerabilities exploited.

 20 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

***
America is no stranger to hate groups. In the aftermath of the Civil War, the Ku
Klux Klan initially focused on anti-black, racist policies. By the early 20th century,
the Klan began to espouse antisemitic as well as racist beliefs, but it also denounced
all kinds of other groups, such as Catholics and immigrants. In the mid-20th
century, in reaction to the civil rights movement, the Klan once again refocused
on its anti-black, racist policies. Over time, the Klan became less specific in
its hatred and more all-encompassing in its inherent anti-Americanism.
Antisemitism was a natural component. The Klan, always generating revenue
through membership dues and business sales, became much more organized over
time. However, it was never a major target of concerted action by the federal
government. In fact, by all accounts, the Klan petered out mostly due to the Great
Depression and its followers’ inability pay for membership.
Likewise, before September 11, 2001, few Americans had ever heard of
al-Qaeda. It did not matter that Islamic extremists had already targeted the
United States—specifically, New York City—as early as 1993 when Islamic ter-
rorists first bombed the World Trade Center. Nor did it register that al-Qaeda
was already at war with America when it attacked U.S. embassies across
Africa in 1998. It took the horrific, sensational attacks on the World Trade


Center, the Pentagon, and potentially the White House or Congress (Flight
93) to wake up America to the reality that Usama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda
were serious about destroying the United States. Additionally, al-Qaeda
intended its attack on the United States to be the opening salvo in a broader
jihad against Saudi Arabia and Israel. For al-Qaeda and all others of their
ilk, including Hamas, there is never any distinction between the West,
the United States and Christians, and Israel and Jews: All are targets.
Nevertheless, when most Americans hear “Klan,” they immediately asso-
ciate this homegrown American hate group with “bad.” Likewise, after 9/11
and more than 20 years of the global war on terrorism, the vast majority of
Americans associate al-Qaeda and Islamic extremism with “bad.” This is
precisely the effect Project Esther strives to generate when Americans
hear “Hamas Supporters” or “Hamas Support Network.”
***
Desired Effects (DE). Generating the following desired effects will
either contribute to or directly result in achieving the desired end state:

l DE1: HSO propaganda purged from curricula.

l DE2: HSO-supporting faculty and/or staff removed or fired.

 October 7, 2024 | 21

l DE3: HSO access to campuses lost and/or denied.

l DE4: Foreign members of HSOs/HSN access to campuses lost

and/or denied.

l DE5: Money from foreign HSO supporters not accepted by schools.

l DE6: HSOs unable to raise revenue.

l DE7: HSOs unable to transfer money to Hamas.

l DE8: Congressional “Hamas Caucus” marginalized.

l DE9: Executive branch presented with undeniable evidence of HSOs’

criminal activity.

l DE10: Social media no longer allow the spread of antisemitic content.

DE11: HSOs’ voice/access to propaganda dissemination


l

mechanisms lost.

l DE12: HSOs cannot/unwilling to communicate with each other.

l DE13: HSOs unable to coordinate action.

l DE14: Permits for HSOs to protest or demonstrate are restricted

and/or denied.

l DE15: People are unwilling to join demonstrations.

l DE16: Foreign HSO leadership no longer present in U.S.

l DE17: Preponderance of Jewish community perceives HSOs as a

threat to their safety.

l DE18: Preponderance of broader American public perceives HSOs as

a threat to their safety and a functioning society.

l DE19: Critical vulnerabilities targeted.

 22 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

Necessary Conditions (NC). Any actions taken in furtherance of this

strategy must either contribute to or directly result in setting the following
conditions, which are tied to the generation of commensurate effects:

l NC1: HSO propaganda discredited.

l NC2: HSO propaganda is not academically accreditable.

l NC3: Curricula must adhere to academic freedom and present multi-

ple perspectives.

l NC4: HSO-supporting faculty and staff’s credibility undermined.

l NC5: HSO-supporting faculty and staff lose their credentials.

l NC6: HSOs in violation of campus policies.

l NC7: HSOs lose affiliation with campuses.



l NC8: HSO members in violation of student visa requirements.

l NC9: HSO-supporting foreign faculty and staff in violation of visa

requirements.

l NC10: Foreign HSO leaders and members voluntarily depart the U.S.

l NC11: Foreign HSO leaders and members deported from the U.S.

l NC12: HSOs not eligible for public funds.

l NC13: Institutions voluntarily refuse money from HSO supporters.

l NC14: Institutions cease providing money to HSOs.

l NC15: People and groups refuse to donate to HSOs.

l NC16: HSOs not permitted to make money.

l NC17: HSOs lose conduits for transferring money to Hamas.

 October 7, 2024 | 23

l NC18: Progressive left support to “Hamas Caucus” is untenable.

l NC19: Evidence of HSOs’ criminal activity gathered.

l NC20: Social media view HSOs’ presence as a liability.

l NC21: Social media platforms unwilling to host or promote HSOs.

l NC22: Social media users do not want to be affiliated with HSOs.

l NC23: HSOs do not trust each other.

l NC24: Localities unwilling to grant permits for HSO demonstrations

or protests.

l NC25: Potential demonstrators fear affiliation with HSOs.

l NC26: HSOs present a threat to American (Jewish and otherwise)

livelihoods.


l NC27: HSOs present a threat to Americans’ personal beliefs.

l NC28: Critical vulnerabilities identified.

Priorities (Methods/Ways). These are the methods by which Project

Esther will achieve its ends. They are comparable to guiding principles—
themes if you will—that will shape participants’ approach in generating
comprehensive action to dismantle the HSN. They are not solutions or spe-
cific actions in and of themselves, but they will permeate all of our efforts
and allow us to organize the project’s activities in a manner that moves
everything in the same general direction. Project Esther will guide coalition
members toward thematically grouped, distinct, but mutually supportive
lines of effort, described in the accompanying Campaign Plan, that integrate
to varying degrees the following methods (ways).

l Expose the critical resources fueling antisemitism. The first step

in dismantling the HSN is gaining a comprehensive understanding of
the network. To this end, we will assume a network-centered approach
to gain a comprehensive understanding of the infrastructure that
sustains the individuals and organizations supporting Hamas. An
 24 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

important critical task is to “build out” the HSN and its composite
HSOs and to conduct both center of gravity (COG) analysis and social
network analysis (SNA) to identify critical vulnerabilities. This likely
will necessarily expand to include the HSN’s far-left support network,
particularly with respect to financial support. As with any social
network, Project Esther’s operations will target critical HSN and
HSO vulnerabilities, including critical nodes, critical functions, and/
or critical requirements, to optimize effects and encourage the rapid
dismantling of the HSN.

***

A Crash Course in Center of Gravity and Network Analysis

Center of Gravity Analysis

l Center of gravity (COG): The source of power that provides moral or

physical strength, freedom of action, or the will to act.


l Critical capability (CC): A means that is considered a crucial enabler

for a center of gravity to function as such and is essential to the accom-
plishment of the specified assumed objectives. What the center of gravity
does for the adversary.

l Critical requirement (CR): An essential condition, resource, and

means for a critical capability to be fully operational. What the center of
gravity needs to perform its critical capabilities.

l Critical vulnerability (CV): An aspect of a critical requirement that is

deficient or vulnerable to direct or indirect attack that will create deci-
sive or significant effects.

Social Network Analysis

l Social network: The organization of a group of people based on their

relationships.

l Critical node: In social network analysis (SNA), a network member

with a significant number of connections to other network members and
the removal of which will have a deleterious effect on the network.
 October 7, 2024 | 25

l Critical function: Often overlooked in SNA, a critical function refers

to the nature of the connections themselves between nodes in a network.
Nodes often connect in multiple ways; the more the different types of con-
nections, the stronger the overall bond between nodes and the stronger
and more resilient the network. However, functions are also targetable.
Think of it in terms of something basic, like communications. If multiple
nodes all rely on Internet connectivity to communicate and something
disrupts Internet connectivity, then the network becomes less effective
because nodes cannot communicate with each other.

***

l Mobilize a coalition of private organizations. Engage like-minded

organizations with a bias for action to build a coalition and coordinate
the efforts and activities of private organizations in the U.S. to achieve
combined effects. The Heritage Foundation is a powerful organization
with great brand recognition and outstanding credibility, but it cannot
successfully implement Project Esther alone. And it does not need to:
Given Heritage’s extensive social and professional network across all


dimensions of American society along with other like-minded orga-
nizations and super-empowered individuals, a coalition of the willing
and able will be well-positioned and well-resourced to generate the
necessary action to counter the HSN. Such a coalition will no doubt
reflect the multifaceted nature of the American demographic.

l Undermine the HSN’s baseline assumption. In line with building a

coalition, we must energize the American Jewish community at home.
No doubt this will start with volunteers joining the coalition built in
general support of Project Esther, but it must take on a life of its own
to shift both the narrative and the mindset prevalent among signif-
icant portions of the American Jewish community. Only by actively
engaging resistant sectors of this community from within will we be
able to harness the power, strength, and intellect of these amazing
Americans to counter the HSN threat both to their community and to
America generally. When the HSN can no longer count on American
Jewish complacency, an important leg of their strategy will crumble.

l Erode support for antisemitism. By exploiting fissures within and

among antisemites and affiliated organizations and their target audi-
ences, we will generate strategic dilemmas across the entire HSN front.
 26 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

Whether in the halls of academia or in the halls of power, HSN sup-

porters 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 organiza-
tions that support terrorism.

l Synchronize coalition actions to maximize impact. Project

Esther’s coalition will orchestrate actions and activities across society
in collaboration with federal and state government to achieve the
desired impact and align resources toward priorities. Project Esther
will work to align coalition strengths against HSN vulnerabilities.
Every coalition member will likely have its own areas of expertise and
its own charter guiding its activities in a manner commensurate with
its purpose. In addition, many partners who join us may already have
ongoing activities designed to counter the HSN in some way. That
need not change. If those activities target HSN vulnerabilities, we will
work to reinforce success. However, we will also work to match part-


ners and capabilities to HSN vulnerabilities that nobody is exploiting.

We will also seek partners that can fill capabilities gaps and initiate
actions against specific HSN vulnerabilities.

l Focus. Disrupt and degrade networks and deny them the critical
resources that they need to conduct and sustain antisemitic behavior.
As the HSN and HSOs carry on their activities in a variety of domains
and venues across our open society, so too shall we. Project Esther will
coordinate and synchronize civic operations and activities across the
academic, social, legal, financial, and religious spheres. Additionally,
we will execute actions at the federal, state, and local levels to ensure
both effects and success.

l Communicate. 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.

Means. At the strategic level, means generally break down into four cat-
egories: authorities, resources, capabilities, and activities. Project Esther
will organize and focus a broad coalition of willing and able partners to
 October 7, 2024 | 27

leverage existing—and, if required, work to establish additional—authorities,

resources, capabilities, and activities.

l Authorities. As American citizens, our authorities derive from the

Republic’s founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, the
Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Beyond that are federal, state, and
local laws, ordinances, and regulations. We have several laws at our
disposal that may help to exploit HSN and HSO vulnerabilities, such as
the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); the Racketeer Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO); and counterterrorism, hate
speech, and immigration laws. Each of our coalition partners has its
own relevant charter delineating its purpose, intent, and constraints.
Finally, given the nature or our charge, we may seek moral guidance
from relevant religious texts.

l Resources. First and foremost, Project Esther will require money

to fund the operations needed to counter the HSN. That money may
originate from coalition members, large donors, other high-net-
worth individuals (HNWI), and grassroots fundraising. Similarly, we


will need centers of influence, which themselves may be HNWI or
key influencers. Much of the information required, especially with
respect to building out the HSN for analysis, is publicly available or
purchasable. Information that is not so readily accessible can likely
be accessed through Freedom of Information Act requests or on-the-
ground and in-the-field research and analysis. Finally, the project will
require people—an army of volunteers with the skill sets needed to
render the HSN ineffective.

l Capabilities. Thankfully, America’s open society allows us to access

the capabilities that the HSN and its HSOs use for ill. This means that
we have the same capability to influence—perhaps more so. We have
access to the same social media platforms across the entire U.S. digital
ecosystem. These allow us not only to connect with our own various
social networks, but also to access and monitor the HSN’s. As a nation
of laws—and equal protection under the law—we likely have vast ranks
of legal scholars, experts, and practitioners ready to volunteer on our
behalf. As a group of American professionals, we are likely connected
to our own academic institutions’ alumni networks; any of us who
are HNWIs in our own right may wield significant influence over the
administration of those institutions, particularly if we sit on boards
 28 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

of directors. Finally, given the nature of the endeavor and the amount
of information required, we will need to access several commercially
available analytic tools.

l Activities. To exploit specific HSN and HSO vulnerabilities, we must

conduct legal, private research and investigation to uncover criminal
wrongdoing. We must conduct audits, both academic and financial.
We must conduct information campaigns that are designed to illumi-
nate and expose—“name and shame”—to undermine HSN and HSO
members’ credibility. We must wage lawfare. We must disrupt HSN
and HSO communications, both to the broader public and among each
other. We must conduct public relations campaigns designed to place
officials who are HSN supporters or fence-sitters in untenable posi-
tions, forcing them to end their support for anti-American, antisemitic
HSO causes or risk losing their power.

Risk. The risk inherent in Project Esther largely involves the conse-
quences of success and the consequences of doing nothing (which equates
to failure).


If the HSN and its affiliated HSOs were left alone, their activities con-
ceivably could drift away from the public’s consciousness and into the
annals of unrecorded history. They could, of their own accord, become
ineffectual. Unfortunately, current trends and geopolitical conditions
do not support this conclusion. It is more likely that antisemitism will
grow across the United States and that the American Jewish commu-
nity will become both more insular and more marginalized, eventually
falling victim to the HSN agenda. Over time, the HSN’s victims will
grow to include other American minority groups that are incapable of
aligning with the HSN and its HSOs. While there is always a risk that
doing anything could fail and accelerate these results, doing nothing
will ensure them.
At the same time, it is worth acknowledging that when Project Esther
succeeds, it could reinforce a “blood libel” narrative, potentially lending
credence to an HSN “Blame the Jews” mantra, followed by expanded
antisemitism across the United States. It should be anticipated that HSOs
will counter legal actions taken by Heritage and other members of the
coalition with legal action of their own. At the lowest level, 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.
 October 7, 2024 | 29

It is therefore incumbent upon us to integrate measures necessary to

mitigate the risk of success. 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. We can further minimize
risk to the project from “counter accusations” with an underlying public
relations campaign designed to insulate it from the HSN, HSOs, their sup-
porters, and other Jew-haters. Most important, reflecting the true nature
of the HSN threat—a threat to the foundations of the United States and the
fabric of our society—Project Esther cannot be a solely “Jewish” effort:
It must be an American effort. Project Esther will deliberately remain
American, without foreign partners, to ensure that nobody can legitimately
accuse us of being under the influence of foreign powers or part of a broader
foreign “conspiracy.” And because Project Esther is an American effort,
participants will no doubt naturally reflect the inherently dynamic U.S.
demographic, one that is multicultural and multiethnic and includes Jews
and non-Jews alike. There is no need for “diversity, equity, and inclusion”
(DEI); we have no doubt that Americans of all backgrounds will gravitate
toward Project Esther because it is righteous and reflects American values.


First they came for the socialists,
and I did not speak out—
because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I did not speak out—
because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,

and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—

and there was no one left to speak for me.

—Martin Niemoller 22
 30 PROJECT ESTHER
A NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM

Endnotes
1. Megillat Esther (The Book of Esther), 3:8, 5, https://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/850975/jewish/Printable-Megillah.htm
(accessed July 30, 2024).
2. Ibid., 4:13–14, 6–7.
3. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History (New York: William
Morrow and Company, Inc., 1991), p. 108.
4. The Wilson Center, “Doctrine of Hamas,” October 20, 2023, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/doctrine-hamas (accessed July 29, 2024). Hamas’s
1988 “covenant,” which serves as the organization’s charter, makes clear its intent to control all of Palestine and govern it based on its version of
Islam (Article 6). It declares its intent to counter Zionism (Article 7), which is in fact Jewish nationalism, while equating Islam with its own Palestinian
nationalism (Article 12). The charter specifically characterizes Jews as “usurpers” (Article 15) and rejects any attempts by non-Arab, non-Muslim
powers to broker peace. Articles 30 and 32 codify typical antisemitic tropes. In 2017, Hamas released its “Principles and Policies,” a document much
lauded by Western diplomats as a demonstration of Hamas’s willingness to negotiate with Israel based on its 20th paragraph, which states, “However,
without compromising its rejection of the Zionist entity and without relinquishing any Palestinian rights, Hamas considers the establishment of a
fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of the 4th of June 1967 boundaries, with the return
of the refugees and the displaced to their homes from which they were expelled, to be a formula of national consensus.” The rest of the “Principles
and Policies” reinforces charter language and positions and specifically delineates the Palestinian state’s territories as “Palestine, which extends from
the River Jordan in the east to the Mediterranean in the west and from Ras Al-Naqurah in the north to Umm Al-Rashrash in the south.” This territory
covers the entirety of Israel.
5. Anti-Defamation League, Center on Extremism, Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2023, published April 16, 2024, https://www.adl.org/resources/report​
/audit-antisemitic-incidents-2023 (accessed July 29, 2024). In 2022, ADL tabulated 3,698 antisemitic incidents across the United States.
6. Canary Mission currently lists a total of 36 “organizations that promote hatred of the USA, Israel, and Jews on North American college campuses
and beyond” based on requirements outlined under its ethics policy. In addition to SJP, AMP, and JVP, other organizations now likely familiar to
the American public include CODEPINK; Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS); the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR); IfNotNow
(INN); Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA); and Within Our Lifetime (WOL). See Canary Mission, “Organizations,” https://canarymission.org​


/organizations (accessed July 31,2024).

7. Harvard Kennedy School, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, “Crowd Counting Consortium: An Empirical Overview of Recent
Pro-Palestine Protests at U.S. Schools,” May 30, 2024, https://ash.harvard.edu/articles/crowd-counting-blog-an-empirical-overview-of-recent-pro​
-palestine-protests-at-u-s-schools/ (accessed August 9, 2024). Data are readily accessible at Harvard Kennedy School, Ash Center for Democratic
Governance and Innovation, “Counting Crowds.” Blog of the Crowd Counting Consortium, https://Countingcrowds.org (accessed August 9, 2024),
which also links to Harvard Kennedy School, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Nonviolent Action Lab, “Pro-Palestine Protests
in the U.S. Since Oct. 7, 2023,” https://nonviolentactionlab.shinyapps.io/palestine-protest-dashboard (accessed August 9, 2024), and “Pro-Israel
Protest Events in the U.S. Since Oct. 7, 2023,” https://nonviolentactionlab.shinyapps.io/israel-protest-dashboard (accessed August 9, 2024). The CCC
describes itself as “a joint project of the Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Connecticut”, that “collects publicly available data on political
crowds reported in the United States, including marches, protests, strikes, demonstrations, riots, and other actions.” Harvard Kennedy School, Ash
Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, “Crowd Counting Consortium,” https://ash.harvard.edu/programs/crowd-counting-consortium/
(accessed August 9, 2024). The Nonviolent Action Lab is self-described as “an innovation hub for activists, researchers, and supporters who share
common goals around defending and advancing democracy worldwide through civil resistance—protests, demonstrations, and other actions. The
Lab produces and disseminates up-to-date knowledge on nonviolent action, how it works, and global trends in success and failure.” Harvard Kennedy
School, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, “Nonviolent Action Lab,” https://ash.harvard.edu/programs/nonviolent-action​
-lab/ (accessed August 9, 2024). As the CCC explains on its Nonviolent Action Lab dashboard, it “uses publicly available information to make data
on political crowds in the United States, including protests, marches, rallies, vigils, demonstrations, and other actions. CCC publishes its data via a
series of monthly Google Sheets (here [hyperlink]). The dashboard runs on a subset of the larger CCC dataset, which you can find in this GitHub
repository [hyperlink].” Harvard Kennedy School, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, “CCC Data Dashboard: About,” https://​
nonviolentactionlab.shinyapps.io/ccc-data-dashboard/ (accessed August 9, 2024).
8. See Canary Mission website, https://canarymission.org (accessed July 29, 2024). Data are broken down into four categories: “Students,” “Professors,”
“Professionals,” and “Organizations.”
9. Ibid.
10. U.S. Department of Education, Office of the General Counsel, Institutional Compliance with Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, October
2020, p. 3, https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/institutional-compliance-section-117.pdf (accessed July 29, 2024).
11. Michael Bass, Alexander Reid Ross, Ben Wolfson, Joel Finkelstein, Sonia Yanovsky, Danit Finkelstein, Sean T. Stevens, Nathan Honeycutt, Pamela
Peresky, Ayal Feinberg, Charles Asher Small, and Lee Jussim, “The Corruption of the American Mind: How Foreign Funding in U.S. Higher Education by
Authoritarian Regimes, Widely Undisclosed, Predicts Erosion of Democratic Norms and Antisemitic Incidents on Campus,” Network Contagion Institute
Contagion and Ideology Report, November 6, 2023, p. 2, https://networkcontagion.us/reports/11-6-23-the-corruption-of-the-american-mind/
(accessed July 29, 2024).
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12. Ibid., p. 3.
13. Ibid., p. 7.
14. See, for example, Paul J. Larkin, “The Resurgence of Antisemitism in American Higher Education,” Heritage Foundation Legal Memorandum No. 359,
August 6, 2024, https://www.heritage.org/education/report/the-resurgence-antisemitism-american-higher-education.
15. On Tuesday, August 6, 2024, Cori Bush lost her primary to Democrat Wesley Bell after a campaign that reportedly “was boosted by more than $8
million in spending from a super PAC affiliated with the country’s largest pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, and
other similar entities. That outside money transformed the race into one of the most expensive House primaries in history.” Annie Karni, “Wesley Bell
Defeats Cori Bush, a ‘Squad’ Member and Vocal Critic of Israel,” The New York Times, August 6, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/06/us​
/politics/cori-bush-wesley-bell-primary.html (accessed August 9, 2024).
16. On Tuesday, June 25, 2024, Jamaal Bowman lost his primary to Democrat George Latimer after what the press characterized as the most expensive
House primary in history. Of the $25 million spent, “[n]early $15 million…came from the United Democracy Project, a super PAC linked to the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee, a powerful pro-Israel lobby, which backed Latimer.” Scott Wong and Bridget Bowman, “Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a Vocal
Israel Critic and ‘Squad’ Member, Loses Primary,” NBC News, updated June 26, 2024, https:// (accessed August 9, 2024). However, Bowman’s exit
from the House does not guarantee his exit from the progressive movement or politics. He and any others who join him after stints in elected political
positions will likely remain available for service to future progressive officials and the broader antisemitic movement across the United States.
17. The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, The White House, May 2023, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/U.S.​
-National-Strategy-to-Counter-Antisemitism.pdf (accessed July 29, 2024).
18. Arnie Bernstein, Swastika Nation: Fritz Kuhn and the Rise and Fall of the German–American Bund (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2013).
19. See, for example, Special Committee on Un-American Activities, U.S. House of Representatives, Investigation of Un-American Propaganda
Activities in the United States, Appendix—Part IV, German–American Bund, 77th Cong., 1st Sess., 1942, https://ia801308.us.archive.org/14/items​
/investigationofu194104unit/investigationofu194104unit.pdf (accessed July 29, 2024), and Special Committee on Un-American Activities, U.S. House
of Representatives, Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States, Appendix—Part VII, Report on the Axis Front Movement
in the United States, First Section—Nazi Activities, 78th Cong. 1st Sess., 1943, https://dn790008.ca.archive.org/0/items/investigationofu07unit​
/investigationofu07unit.pdf (accessed July 31, 2024).
20. Leon G. Turrou, Spying on America: Leon G. Turrou’s The Nazi Spy Conspiracy in America (Washington: Westphalia Press, 2013).


21. The Heritage Foundation has been formally recognized as a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization by the Internal Revenue Service. The Heritage
Foundation may not engage in any political campaign intervention and does not conduct any lobbying activity. The Heritage Foundation does
not subsidize or direct any other organization to conduct such activities, but other organizational partners are free to conduct other activities
independently to the extent that their tax status allows.
22. Martin Niemoller was a German Lutheran pastor who initially supported Nazi party beliefs until the Nazis began persecuting Protestant Christians,
including himself. He spent the last eight years of Nazi rule in Nazi prisons and concentration camps. In 1946, he began touring western Germany,
engaging with German audiences to encourage them to take individual responsibility for Nazism and its atrocities. He openly spoke about his own
early complicity in Nazism and his eventual change of heart. See United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Holocaust Encyclopedia,” https://​
encyclopedia.ushmm.org (accessed July 29, 2024). Niemoller’s words about guilt and responsibility resonate today and serve as an indictment of
passivity and indifference during the Holocaust. They are a direct refutation of the mantra that “not all Germans were Nazis” or “not all of Germany
was responsible for Hitler’s rise to power or the Holocaust.” In the same vein, the Palestinian people in Gaza elected Hamas and have done nothing to
remove it from power: They are as responsible for Hamas’s atrocities as are the Hamas terrorists who inflicted them upon innocent Israelis. Those who
blindly support Hamas from afar, including those in the United States, are equally guilty—as guilty as the German–American Bund was in its attempts
to replicate Nazism here in the United States.