Project Esther: Defund, Defame, Deport

What's Happened Already

Serious false accusations of providing material support for terrorism:

• Project Esther and the Trump administration have been falsely equating anti-war activism with support for Hamas.
• Project Esther and its supporters have been deliberately expanding the interpretation of anti-terrorism statutes to include U.S.-based protest organizations that do not fit into the long-standing definition of providing material support to terrorist groups. Essentially, any group that criticizes the Israeli government's actions concerning Palestinians is subject to being falsely accused of supporting foreign terrorism.

Cutting off funds for nonprofits and charitable organizations:

• Congress is taking action to give the Executive Branch unilateral power to remove the tax-exempt nonprofit status of organizations without due process, threatening the financial viability of many nonprofits.
• The Chair of the Congressional Committee on Ways and Means has sent multiple letters to the IRS demanding "investigation and ultimately revocation of the tax-exempt status" of 17 organizations, including Jewish Voice for Peace.
• "Lawfare" firms are draining the funds of organizations and individuals through frivolous lawsuits – forcing them to divert funds and staff time away from their mission and toward legal defense.
• The Department of Justice clawed back COVID relief funds from targeted groups by falsely alleging misuse or political activity, and forcing them to repay large sums and divert resources from their missions.
• There are aggressive efforts underway to deny funds and permits to organizations based on their political speech, effectively starving them of resources and limiting their ability to organize events.

False accusations against individuals and institutions:

• Project Esther explicitly names progressive organizations and foundations, including Jewish Voice for Peace, falsely claiming they support terrorists — all so they can eventually use anti-terrorism laws to shut them down.
• Trump administration officials have tried to block the ability of universities to enroll foreign students from any university that do not comply with its authoritarian demands.
• Trump administration officials have imposed invasive social media checks for foreign students that seek to ban students who express criticism of Israel from entering the United States.
• A grand jury subpoena was issued to a university requesting information about individual student protesters, escalating government pressure and intensifying the risks of participation.
• Right-wing groups and lawfare organizations have filed civil lawsuits against student protesters and campus groups that support Palestinian rights, aiming to intimidate activists with legal attacks and drain their finances.

Immigration and Visa-Based Retaliation:

• The Trump administration and state Attorneys General have requested the State Department investigate and revoke the visas of hundreds of international students and activists involved in Palestine protests, putting them at risk of deportation.
• An ICE official admitted under oath that ICE is basing these investigations on materials submitted by shadowy far-right extremist groups such as Canary Mission (an internet blacklist that smears, libels, and cyber-bullies professors and students) and Betar US (a Zionist group that has created and posted lists of students who have participated in Palestine protests and are legally in the U.S. on visas).
• University administrators have allowed ICE to harass its students on campus, while allowing repeated incidents of police violence and arrests on campus.
• The government has revoked the visas of hundreds of international students who were involved in protests, putting them at risk of deportation.

What does this mean for other social issues?

The strategies employed to defund, defame, and deport activists in the Palestine solidarity movement pose a grave threat to all progressive causes:

• Movements for racial justice, immigrant rights, and environmental protection could face similar campaigns of defamation, being falsely linked to extremism to erode public support and justify legal crackdowns.
• The ability of nonprofit organizations across the spectrum to raise revenue and sustain their operations will be jeopardized as their tax-exempt status and funding sources become vulnerable to political attacks. This includes efforts to revoke nonprofit status, claw back COVID relief funds, and make organizations unable to transfer funds across borders.
• The threat of deportation for activists on visas, or even for citizens through expanded legal interpretations, could create a climate of fear that discourages participation in any form of protest or advocacy, regardless of the issue.
• The erosion of legal protections and due process for organizations and individuals will set a precedent, making it easier for future administrations to target any group that challenges the status quo. Already, the State Department has falsely accused demonstrators of being in support of terrorism as a way to delegitimize protest and dissent.
• The Trump administration has already designated certain organizations they claim are "cartels" as terrorist supporting organizations in such a way that it could put at risk "churches, synagogues, food banks, and other organizations providing services to migrant communities."