Person, group behind hate network aimed at pro-Palestinians exposed
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The Shirion Collective, operating since late 2023, uses platforms like X, Telegram, and GoFundMe to coordinate the propagation of pro-"Israel" and anti-Palestine propaganda.
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A police officer detains a protester on the campus of Emory University during a pro-Palestine demonstration in April 2024 in Atlanta.(AP)
Daniel Linden, a tech entrepreneur residing in Florida is a key figure in the Shirion Collective, a pro-"Israel" disinformation network attempting to shape public opinion about Gaza in the US, Australia, and the UK, The Guardian revealed.
Shirion has attacked pro-Palestine activists, which includes many Jews, offered bounties for the identities of pro-Palestine protesters, propagated conspiracy stories centered on figures such as George Soros, and boasted about an AI surveillance platform while providing only a few concrete details about how the technology works.
The Guardian's study examined public data and open-source materials to verify evidence provided by the White Rose Society, an Australian anti-fascist research group.
Linden established Shirion's crowdfunding efforts and appears to play a key role in managing the network's social media profiles and organizing the group's operations via a Telegram channel. Operating since late 2023, it uses X, Telegram, and GoFundMe to coordinate the further spread of pro-"Israel" and anti-Palestine propaganda, as well as the intimidation of pro-Palestine protesters.
Shirion identifies itself, in both of its X biographies, as a "surveillance collective" and a "surveillance network" that searches for "digital fingerprints" to "aggressively track what the MSM [mainstream media] won't" and "aggressively track and expose antisemitism."
The group runs a private Telegram channel with 885 members where they coordinate online activities, such as mass reporting of accounts.
Shirion conducted two GoFundMe fundraising campaigns in April and May of 2024 raising more than $57,000 for placing vehicles with footage of October 7 on big-screen monitors near US campuses.
Paying doxers and spreading hatred
Shirion began advertising "bounties" ranging from $500 to $10,000 on X in late 2023 for the identification of those engaging in pro-Palestine protests who they deemed "antisemitic".
In the following months, Shirion made scores of rewards for those who helped them identify such individuals.
Shirion also promotes Islamophobia and anti-Palestine hatred, while glorifying death and devastation in Gaza and violence against supporters in the West, frequently cheering the killings of Palestinians in Gaza.
On April 27, it responded to an X post featuring scenes of damage in Gaza: "Love that Gaza looks like That now."
It has also repeatedly praised police violence against pro-Palestine protesters in the US and glorified violence against journalists it calls "Marxist".
Heidi Beirich, co-founder and chief strategy officer at the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, stated that Soros' conspiracy theories are “always implicitly linked” with antisemitism, adding that “it’s strange that [Linden] is at once rabidly pro-Israel and also spreads antisemitic conspiracy theories."
Shirion has frequently expressed conspiracy theories regarding Muslims, including one that envisions a Muslim takeover of Europe and posting videos of pro-Palestine protesters learning Haitian martial arts with the accusation that they were "Practicing Slaughter Techniques on Jews."
Shirion frequently makes exaggerated claims about its relationships and the AI technologies it promises to use to detect imagined opponents, claiming on X it has contacts with the NYPD, FBI, Israeli intelligence, and the Met Police in London.
It has claimed to have built AI technology "Project Maccabee", for the "PROTECTION and survival of our people" and "EXPOSING these putrid antisemites," despite never showcasing its operations and failing to demonstrate that its capabilities outperform those of amateur open-source intelligence investigators.
The Guardian reveals Israeli pressure to silence opposing voices in US
"Israel" has revived a contentious entity as part of a larger public relations operation to target US college campuses and redefine antisemitism in US law, The Guardian recently revealed through evidence it has uncovered.
Amichai Chikli, a Likud minister in the Israeli government, briefed the Israeli parliament in November about possible responses to anti-war protests across the US. He stated that the occupation should be "on the offensive," telling members of the Israeli Knesset that there was funding for a pushback effort independent of the occupation government's typical public relations and paid advertising.
He explained that it comprised 80 initiatives currently in progress for lobbying activities "to be done in the 'Concert' way," referring to a massive relaunch of an Israeli government program known as Kela Shlomo, which "Israel" calls "mass consciousness activities" aimed primarily at the US and Europe.
Now known as Voices of Israel, it formerly collaborated with groups leading a push to enact so-called anti-BDS state legislation that penalizes Americans who engage in boycotts or other nonviolent actions against "Israel".
From October to May, Chikli oversaw at least $8.6 million in government campaigning to recast the public discourse surrounding "Israel".
In December, numerous House Republicans openly cited the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) findings in their questioning of university presidents. The ISGAP has also been heavily involved in the campaign to enshrine new laws that redefine antisemitism to include some criticism of "Israel".
