This is real, and backed by research, Holocaust research on how Hitler began it. Pro-Palestinian protesters participate in a Nakba Day rally and march on May 15, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City Pro-Palestinian protesters participate in a Nakba Day rally and march on May 15, 2025 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City © Spencer Platt/Getty Images Months before President Donald Trump returned to office, the creators of Project 2025 unveiled a blueprint to shut down pro-Palestinian activism in the United States. The conservative Heritage Foundation's Project Esther sought to equate actions such as participating in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses with providing material support for terrorism so that the demonstrators could be deported, face prison time, civil penalties or other serious consequences, The New York Times reported. Donate to Help Jews - IFCJ.ca Ad Donate to Help Jews - IFCJ.ca support.ifcj.ca Learn more call to action icon Newsweek has contacted the Heritage Foundation and the White House for comment via email. Why It Matters The Trump administration appears to have adopted some of the suggestions in Project Esther, including casting pro-Palestinian demonstrators as supporters of Hamas. The administration has withheld federal money from universities, arguing that they allowed antisemitism to go unchecked at campus protests last year, and revoked the visas of international students accused of participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Pro-Palestinian protests have flared again on college campuses this year, pushing for the same goal that drove demonstrations last year: an end to university ties with Israel or companies that provides weapons or support to Israel amid its ongoing war in Gaza. What To Know About 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, and about 250 people were taken captive. In the 19 months since, Israel has killed more than 53,000 people in Gaza, the Associated Press reported, citing Palestinian health officials. As anger over Israel's actions in Gaza mounted, the Heritage Foundation unveiled a policy paper called Project Esther on the one-year anniversary of the attack. IFCJ.ca - The Fellowship Ad IFCJ.ca - The Fellowship support.ifcj.ca Learn more call to action icon The document said the "virulently anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and anti-American groups comprising the pro-Palestinian movement" are pro-Hamas and "effectively a terrorist support network." The document said the project's aim was to "dismantle the pro-Hamas support network's infrastructure across America, including but not limited to propaganda, organizations, funds, access, communications, platforms, and people." It includes calls to revoke the visas of international students and faculty who have supported pro-Palestinian causes, deport pro-Palestinian activists, defund organizations that help them and discredit the broader pro-Palestinian movement by casting any critics of Israel as supporters of Hamas. However, many pro-Palestinian groups and activists, some of them Jewish, say they support Palestinian rights, not Hamas or terrorism. What Is The Heritage Foundation? The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., What Is Project 2025? Project 2025 is a nearly 1,000-page blueprint for Trump's second term from the Heritage Foundation. It outlined a proposed massive overhaul of the federal government that was drafted by longtime allies of Trump and former Trump administration officials. On the campaign trail, Trump denied it was a blueprint for his second term, but his policies since returning to office reflect many of the positions put forth in Project 2025. 7 Secrets of Wealthy Investors Ad 7 Secrets of Wealthy Investors Fisher Investments Learn More call to action icon What People Are Saying Victoria Coates, a former deputy national security adviser to Trump and the Heritage vice president who oversees Project Esther, told The New York Times that there are clear parallels between Project Esther and recent actions taken by the Trump administration against pro-Palestinian demonstrators. "The phase we're in now is starting to execute some of the lines of effort in terms of legislative, legal and financial penalties for what we consider to be material support for terrorism." Stefanie Fox, the executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, said on Democracy Now! that Project Esther has "absolutely nothing to do with Jewish safety, and it is intended solely to destroy the Palestinian liberation movement using tools that can then be used against all communities and movements and democracy itself. "We can see clearly that Project Esther sets out a path for the Trump administration to sharpen those legal regimes that will best advance MAGA goals. So, for example, the targeting of international students like Mahmoud Khalil for abduction and deportation because of their political views is a terrifying attempt to expand already-unjust counterterrorism and immigration laws against [the] Palestinian rights movement, immigrant communities and civil liberties writ large." Harrison Fields, the White House's principal deputy press secretary, told Axios in March: "It's always been a core principle of President Trump, his administration and the Republican Party to combat antisemitism, stand with Israel and revoke visas of foreign nationals who support terrorism and jihadism." What Happens Next According to The New York Times, Heritage Action, the think tank's grassroots advocacy arm, is working to help states pass legislation that penalizes those who support boycotts against Israel.
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AntisemitismCanada In 2026, Tulsa And Panama Are Courting Canadian Jews As Antisemitism Redefines The Cost Of Staying As antisemitism reaches unprecedented levels across Canada, Jewish families and professionals are quietly reassessing their futures, and some are being actively courted elsewhere. Ron East By: Ron East December 31, 2025 SHARE A growing number of Canadian Jews are exploring relocation options A growing number of Canadian Jews are exploring relocation options as antisemitism intensifies and confidence in public protection erodes. (Image: Illustration.) TORONTO — For generations, Canada sold itself as a country where Jews could thrive without constantly looking over their shoulders. That assumption no longer holds for a growing number of Canadian Jews, particularly in the aftermath of October 7 and the months that followed. What has changed is not only the number of antisemitic incidents. It is the atmosphere. Public hostility has been normalized. Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centres operate under permanent security protocols. Anti-Jewish intimidation is increasingly framed as political expression. Enforcement is inconsistent. Accountability is rare. When Jewish life requires constant risk assessment, mobility stops being a luxury. It becomes a rational act of self-preservation. That reality helps explain why, in 2026, two very different destinations, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Panama, are appearing with growing frequency in serious conversations among Canadian Jews who have the means and flexibility to move. This is not a panic migration. It is a strategic recalculation. Canada’s new warning lights Jewish Canadians represent a small fraction of the population, yet account for a vastly disproportionate share of reported hate crimes. This is not a perception problem. It is a documented pattern. More troubling than the statistics themselves is the message many Jews hear in response: concern, sympathy, and context, but little deterrence. Protests that spill into harassment are tolerated. Jewish institutions are targeted repeatedly. Antisemitism disguised as antizionism is parsed endlessly rather than confronted directly. The result is a slow erosion of confidence in the state’s willingness or ability to enforce equal protection. When a community moves from assuming it belongs to hoping nothing happens today, the social contract has already been fractured. It is within this context that Tulsa and Panama are not merely attracting attention but actively courting. Lech Le’Tulsa and intentional Jewish welcome Tulsa is not presenting itself as a refuge city. It is presenting itself as a place that wants Jewish life to grow. In 2026, that effort has taken concrete form through Lech Le’Tulsa, a Jewish-focused relocation initiative designed to attract Jewish families, professionals, and entrepreneurs to the Tulsa area. The program combines relocation assistance with intentional community building and access to Jewish infrastructure. The name is deliberate. Lech Lecha, the biblical call to go forth and build a future, is not branding by accident. It speaks directly to a Jewish historical instinct that understands movement not as retreat, but as agency. Lech Le’Tulsa offers what many Canadian Jews increasingly feel is missing at home: A clear signal that Jewish presence is welcomed, not merely accommodated Immediate access to synagogues, schools, and Jewish communal life A civic environment where Jewish identity is not treated as a liability The financial incentives matter, but the social architecture matters more. Tulsa is offering a landing ramp. It is saying, we are prepared for you to arrive. That clarity stands in stark contrast to the ambiguity Canadian Jews experience when their safety concerns are acknowledged but endlessly deferred. Panama and the appeal of optionality Panama represents a different but equally rational response to insecurity. For Canadian Jews with international mobility, Panama offers residency pathways tied to investment, business activity, or long-term economic contribution. It also offers something increasingly valuable: optionality. Panama has an established Jewish community, a comparatively lower cost of living, and an immigration framework that openly courts skilled and capital-carrying residents. For some, it is a permanent relocation. For others, it is a second base, a contingency plan, or a future passport pathway. What matters is not the destination itself, but the logic behind the choice. When Jews seek second options, they are not rejecting diaspora life. They are applying historical lessons. Jewish continuity has always depended on redundancy, resilience, and the ability to move before crisis becomes catastrophe. The Zionist lens Canadians prefer to ignore Zionism does not deny the legitimacy of diaspora life. It insists that Jews must never be dependent on the goodwill of others for safety or equality. That lesson was written in blood long before the modern State of Israel existed. Israel institutionalized it at a national level. Individual Jews apply it on a personal level. When Canadian Jews explore Tulsa or Panama, they are not abandoning Canada in anger. They are responding rationally to warning signs. They are building leverage. They are ensuring their children have options. This is what Zionist consciousness looks like outside Israel. It is quiet, pragmatic, and unsentimental. An indictment Canada should take seriously Tulsa and Panama are not superior societies. They are intentional ones. Tulsa is saying, we want contributors, and we are prepared to integrate them. Panama is saying, we want residents and investment, and we have clear legal pathways. Canada, too often, is saying something else entirely: we are sorry you feel unsafe, but the politics are complicated. A serious country does not treat antisemitism as a public relations challenge. It treats it as a threat to civic order. That requires enforcement, deterrence, and moral clarity, including the willingness to name antisemitism even when it hides behind fashionable political language. Until that happens, Canada should not be surprised when Jews quietly explore exit ramps. The bottom line In 2026, the fact that Tulsa and Panama can plausibly court Canadian Jews is not an oddity. It is a warning. When antisemitism reaches levels that fundamentally alter how Jews calculate their futures, movement becomes strategy. History teaches Jews to act before apologies arrive too late. Canada still has time to reverse this trajectory. But time matters. And Jews, having learned this lesson repeatedly, are no longer inclined to wait.
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