Israel Arrests Terrorist Released in Shalit Deal, Haaretz is Still Haaretz

Israeli media are reporting that the IDF earlier on Tuesday arrested one of the terrorists released in the first stage of the Gilad Shalit deal. Ynet’s Elior Levy reports that the name of the terrorist is Ayman Sharouna, while The Jerusalem Post’s Yaakov Katz reports the name as Ayman Salama. Interestingly Gili Cohen of Haaretz, says the name of the terrorist is Mamun Ismyail Salame Stut.

In short, Levy and Katz are right, they are just using different spellings. Cohen is simply wrong.

Here’s the story.

Earlier today, Avital Leibovitch, official Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson to the international press, tweeted:

From Ynet and The Jerusalem Post we learn that the arrested terrorist is 36 years old, first arrested in 2002 and sentenced to 38 years in prison “for his involvement in a 2002 bomb attack in Beersheba which wounded 18 people as well as for a series of shooting attacks during the Second Intifada.” In addition, we learn that he was released around Hebron in the first wave of the Shalit release.

Yet, the ONLY terrorist that matches that description on the Israel Prison Services (IPS) ENGLISH list is Mahmud Abdallah Abd al-Rahman Abu Sariya.

So, who is Iman (Ayman) Alshrona (Sharona) Ismael Salama?

Well, Iman Alshrona Ismael Salama is Mahmud Abdallah Abd al-Rahman Abu Sariya.

Iman Alshrona is his name on the IPS Hebrew list, while Mahmud Abdallah Abd al-Rahman Abu Sariya is his English name. Levy and Katz are simply writing his name in different forms.

Earlier I wrote that Gili Cohen of Haaretz is simply wrong in her report. Here’s why. According to Cohen’s report:

The Israel Defense Forces arrested Mamun Ismyail Salame Stut, a Palestinian man who was released from Israeli prison in October as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal. Stut’s arrest makes him the first released prisoner to be recaptured since the prisoner swap.

In short, Israel DID NOT rearrest Mamun Ismyail Salame Stut. According to the IPS list Mamun Ismyail Salame Stut was only serving 25 years, not 38 years, as Levy, Katz and Cohen all reported. More importantly, Mamun Ismyail Salame Stut was RELEASED to Gaza, and Levy, Katz and Cohen all reported that the terrorist had been captured near Hebron.

Update: It appears that the Haaretz Hebrew version of the article does list the arrested terrorist as Ayman Sharona, the English edition still says it was Mamun Ismyail Salame Stut.

Update: As you can tell and as Jim noted in the comments, Cohen says her information was provided by the IDF. I contacted the IDF and received the following response.

We don’t elaborate on reporters who turn to us for comment, but we can safely confirm that we only put out two versions of his name–first the Hebrew version, then the English one. The name ‘Mamun Ismyail Salame Stut’ was never in our files.

Update: Israel Hayom made the same mistake as Haaretz.

The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday arrested a Palestinian man released as part of the Gilad Schalit prisoner swap, calling him a “security threat.” Mamun Ismyail Salame, 36, was taken into custody after the IDF received intelligence concerning alleged terrorist activities on behalf of Hamas in Judea and Samaria.

I contacted Amir Mizroch, the English editor of Israel Hayom, and he said that he would make the change and within minutes he did. I have been unable to find a email for Gili Cohen to let her know of the mistake, anyone have?

14 thoughts on “Israel Arrests Terrorist Released in Shalit Deal, Haaretz is Still Haaretz”

  1. So why do you single out Ha’aretz for criticism? It appears several people reported inaccurate information, including the IDF spokesperson. Your effort to set the record straight is welcome, but maybe you have more of a political agenda in your criticism than the most respected newpaper in Israel has in its misreporting. I’m not even sure what exactly you’re criticizing Ha’aretz for. Inaccuracy? Sloppiness? Anti-Israel bias? Lots and lots and lots of news organizations get facts wrong and later correct them. That is to be expected given the vast amount of information they are dealing with under an ever-present deadline.

    1. Thanks for the comment. I suggest you re-read the post. I singled out Haaretz because it is the only one that provided incorrect information as they stated that it was Mamun Ismyail Salame Stut who was arrested. Everyone else reported in some variation – Iman (Ayman) Alshrona (Sharona) Ismael Salama who is also Mahmud Abdallah Abd al-Rahman Abu Sariya. It appears that the Haaretz Hebrew site has the correct information, which I will add as an update. Should their English site correct their report, I will add an update.

      You comment that Haaretz is the most respected newspaper in Israel is comical to say the least. Who determines that? Haaretz is read by a whopping 6.6% of Israelis on daily basis, one of, if not, the least read papers in all of Israel. Just go back to this thread where you got ripped for similar comments.

      1. If I were to judge myself based on what others say about me on this site, I’d suffer from an unrecoverable case of low self esteem. I was talking about several news reporters getting the number of years wrong that this individual was serving. Ha’aretz cited an IDF spokesperson as providing the inaccurate information. This may be inaccurate as well. I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure you don’t either. As much as I like AussieDave and IsraellyCool, I recognize a political agenda here and would never rely on him or his site to draw any unassailable conclusions about Israel or the Israeli/Arab Conflict. It is one thing to launch well-founded criticisms of left-leaning mainstream media, but it is another matter to provide an adeaquate replacement for their imperfect performance by those on the political Right.

        1. You said “I was talking about several news reporters getting the number of years wrong that this individual was serving.” Once again I suggest you re-read the post. Levy, Katz and Cohen ALL stated that the released terrorist was sentenced for 38 years. I have asked IDF for comment as to whether they provided Cohen with the name Mamum Ismyail Salame Stut.

        2. Jim youre being foolish. It clearly says that the Haaretz author is completely wrong about the name and is making up crap.

  2. Maybe we’re getting stuck on minutiae, but I read, re-read, and then re-re-read your post and this is my understanding: The IPS reports that the misidentified prisoner (Stut) was sentenced to 25 years while all the reporters from various new organizations misreported the number of years as 38. So nobody got the story completely right. More importantly to me is to know what you make of all this. Does this story, in your judgment, represent journalistic sloppiness or some kind of leftwing political agenda by Ha’aretz? And who, in your opinion, gets it right most of the time?

  3. Stut was NOT arrested. However, this is what Haaretz is reporting, at least on the English site. The arrested individual was Iman (Ayman) Alshrona (Sharona) Ismael Salama aka Mahmud Abdallah Abd al-Rahman Abu Sariya. All the news sites reported that the individual (Ayman Sharona) was sentenced for 38 years. Stut, who was NOT arrested, was only sentenced for 25. Stut was born in 1974, however, arrested terrorist (Ayman Sharona) is 36. In addition, Stut is not even in the West Bank, where the arrest occurred, he was sent to Gaza in the release. My section on Haaretz shows why the terrorist arrested was not Stut. It shows sloppiness.

  4. Thanks for the clarification. I agree with you that it is important for journalists to get the facts right. A vibrant democracy, such as Israel, depends on a reliable press unencumbered by political bias.

  5. Jim, they may be going a bit overboard by slamming Haaretz (it could be an honest mistake). But Haaretz is a worthless rag. I suggest you switch to jpost or ynetnews, or ideally israelnationalnews, to get quality, credible news.

    1. I’ll take your advice under consideration. But the tone of your posts might reveal a bit of grumpiness after another last place finish by Ron Paul, this time in Florida? On the other hand, he might be getting his ass kicked by the other GOP contenders, but Ron Paul does seem to be enjoying himself a lot more than his rivals.

      1. He built significantly on his 2008 total there. He didnt campaign in Florida because its a Winner Takes All state that is expensive and dominated by “Newt Romney” to quote the Bachmonster.

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