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:
IDF arresteda palestinian-Iman Alshrona Ismael Salama-was one of the people released for the return of #GiladShalit.#terror #defense
— Avital Leibovich (@AvitalLeibovich) January 31, 2012
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?
