Critics warn that a new executive order from Donald Trump’s administration purporting to “combat antisemitism”, and a corresponding fact sheet suggesting deporting international students who protest Israel, could chill political speech on campuses.
But there are numerous links between Trump and the Heritage Foundation, including James Carafano, a senior counselor to Trump who co-chairs the Heritage Foundation’s antisemitism taskforce and has praised Project Esther.
Days after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack that sparked Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza, Marco Rubio – then a US senator, now the secretary of state – urged former secretary of state Antony Blinken to revoke the visas of students who protested Israel.
New fact sheet bears similarity to Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther, which aims to quash US support of Palestine.
Project Esther, which was published in October by the conservative Heritage Foundation, lays out a strategy for cracking down on civil society groups that support Palestinian rights – and has sparked fears of wider repression.
