Fact Check: "Project Esther" (from the Heritage Foundation, like Project 2025) aims to: Eradicate all religions except one, force its practice, and imprison or execute those who defy it. Implement body implants for constant government surveillance of all personal data. Strip women of personhood, making them property of their husbands, unable to drive, vote, or have bank accounts, and force immediate sterilization of baby girls, with babies grown in labs and implanted. Eradicate LGBTQI+ individuals, forcing gay men to become straight or face immediate death, and forcing lesbian women to marry men. Replace the U.S. Constitution with biblical law. Criminalize abortion nationally with the death penalty. Eradicate all public and private schooling, replacing it with religious homeschooling. Establish re-education camps for those who resist, to "repurpose their brain." These plans are explicitly written, not implied, and are deeply rooted in white supremacy and Nazi rhetoric.

Fact-Check: Claims Regarding "Project Esther"

What We Know

The claim that "Project Esther" from the Heritage Foundation aims to eradicate all religions except one, enforce body implants for surveillance, strip women of personhood, eradicate LGBTQI+ individuals, replace the U.S. Constitution with biblical law, criminalize abortion with the death penalty, eliminate public schooling, and establish re-education camps is not supported by credible evidence.

1. Project Esther Overview: According to a New York Times article, Project Esther is primarily focused on combating antisemitism and dismantling the pro-Palestinian movement in the United States. It proposes measures to label critics of Israel as supporters of terrorism, which could lead to deportations and defunding of institutions that support Palestinian rights.

2. Misinterpretation of Goals: The project has been described as a strategy that deploys antisemitic conspiracy theories while claiming to defend Jewish safety. It does not explicitly advocate for the eradication of religions or the implementation of biblical law (Jewish Voice for Peace).

3. Women's Rights and LGBTQI+ Issues: There is no evidence in the available literature that Project Esther includes plans to strip women of rights or to target LGBTQI+ individuals. Instead, critiques of the project focus on its implications for free speech and its approach to dissent against pro-Israel narratives (Al Jazeera).

4. Educational Policies: The project does not propose the eradication of public schooling but rather aims to influence educational content to align with its political objectives (Snopes).

5. Surveillance and Re-education Camps: The claims regarding body implants for surveillance and re-education camps are not substantiated in any credible sources discussing Project Esther. The focus remains on legal and financial penalties for perceived support of terrorism (Factually).

Analysis

The claims surrounding Project Esther appear to be exaggerated and misrepresentative of the actual content and intentions of the initiative.

• Source Reliability: The sources that provide insights into Project Esther, such as the New York Times and Jewish Voice for Peace, are reputable and provide a nuanced understanding of the project’s implications. They emphasize the political motivations behind the initiative rather than the extreme claims made in the original assertion.

• Critical Assessment: The claims about eradicating religions and implementing draconian measures against women and LGBTQI+ individuals seem to stem from a misunderstanding or deliberate misrepresentation of the project’s actual goals. The project is primarily concerned with political discourse surrounding Israel and Palestine, rather than a comprehensive attack on various societal groups.

• Contextual Misinterpretation: The invocation of terms like "re-education camps" and "constant government surveillance" may be rhetorical flourishes that do not reflect the actual proposals outlined in Project Esther. The project aims to impose legal consequences on specific political expressions rather than to enact broad societal changes as claimed.

Conclusion

The claim that "Project Esther" aims to eradicate all religions except one, enforce body implants for surveillance, strip women of personhood, eradicate LGBTQI+ individuals, replace the U.S. Constitution with biblical law, criminalize abortion nationally with the death penalty, eliminate public schooling, and establish re-education camps is False. The evidence does not support these extreme assertions, which appear to be a mischaracterization of the project's actual focus on combating antisemitism and influencing political discourse regarding Israel and Palestine.

Sources

1. Rejecting Project Esther: Understanding Christian and White Nationalism as Racism and Antisemitism
2. Inside the Heritage Foundation's Plan to Crush the U.S. Pro-Palestinian Movement
3. Project Esther - Wikipedia
4. What is Project Esther? Unpacking the effort to curb pro-Palestinian activism
5. Project Esther and the weaponisation of Zionism
6. Fact Check: How does Project Esther address the intersection of women's rights and religious freedom?
7. Project Esther: Suppressing Palestinian Solidarity in the US
8. AAUP's A National Day of Action for Higher-Ed