Dozens of Corrections Published After AP Erases Convicted Prisoner’s Deadly Crime

February 12, 2025

AP’s Debra DeBre reporting on the release of Palestinian prisoners, Feb. 9, 2025 (Screenshot from AP video)

CAMERA’s Israel office yesterday prompted correction of an Associated Press article which had erased the deadly crime of released Palestinian prisoner Imad Abu Aliya, resulting in nearly 50 additional corrections in media outlets across North America and beyond. Dozens of secondary media outlets which use AP content published the wire service’s significant correction, clarifying that the terrorist was convicted for intentional manslaughter and incitement, not simply affiliation with Hamas.

In her Feb. 8 article, AP’s Isabel DeBre had erred (“Who are the Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Israeli hostages?”):
“We’ve been waiting. And waiting is the most painful thing, it wears on the nerves,” said Samah Abu Aliya, whose 34-year-old son, Imad Abu Aliya, was freed Saturday after serving four and a half years for his affiliation with Hamas. “Thank God he’s been released. Now we wait for the other prisoners, we wait for the negotiations. That’s what we do in this country, wait.” [Emphasis added.]
But Imad Abu Aliya did not serve four and a half years “for his affiliation with Hamas.” As detailed by Israel’s Ministry of Justice (Hebrew screenshot below), Abu Aliya was convicted and served four years and some 10 weeks (his arrest was Nov. 26, 2020) for intentional manslaughter and incitement.
AP editors agreed with CAMERA that a correction of the misinformation was in order, and commendably amended the passage to accurately report that “Imad Abu Aliya, was freed Saturday after serving four and a half years for a conviction of intentional manslaughter and anti-Israel incitement, according to Israel’s Justice Ministry, which identified him as a Hamas member.”
In addition, AP appended a correction to the bottom of the article alerting readers:

This story was first published on Feb. 8, 2025. It was updated on Feb. 11, 2025, to correct that Imad Abu Aliya, was serving a sentence for a conviction of intentional manslaughter and anti-Israel incitement, according to Israel’s Justice Ministry.

Thanks to the CAMERA-prompted AP correction, more than 45 additional media outlets likewise corrected. They include newspapers across North America including big names like Seattle Times and Houston Chronicle along with smaller community papers like Big Rapids Pioneers (MI) and Milford Mirror (CT). Additional media outlets to correct include the local TV affiliates of major networks CBS, ABC and NBC in cities from La Crosse (WI) to Detroit.

Last month, Associated Press erased the crime of convicted Palestinian prisoner Habbes Bayoud, sentenced to two life terms for his role in the brutal murders of Yosef Avrahami and Vadim Norzhich, two Israeli reservists who took a wrong turn into Ramallah in September 2000. A separate AP article last month had also vanished the crimes of Palestinian prisoner Ra’if Ramez Helmi Al-Farra, convicted for his role in killing six soldiers – Roy Nissim, Araf Azbarga, Sa’id Jahaja, Hussein Abu Leil, Adham Shehada, and Tarek al-Ziadne.

CAMERA continues to call on all media outlets to accurately report the crimes of convicted Palestinian prisoners.

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