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| Islamic State claims slaying of Arab Israeli ‘spy’ in latest video | Islamic State claims slaying of Arab Israeli ‘spy’ in latest video |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| JERUSALEM — Islamic State militants released a video late Tuesday that purports to show a child shooting a man the extremists called “an Israeli spy” — but described by his parents as an Arab Israeli teen duped into joining the group and killed because he wanted out. | |
| “They took my son, they tricked him. The offered him money, a house and a bride, and he told us he had been lied to and that he was sorry for the disgrace he brought upon our house,” said Hind Musallam, mother of the Mohammad Said Ismail Musallam, 19, who left home four months ago. | “They took my son, they tricked him. The offered him money, a house and a bride, and he told us he had been lied to and that he was sorry for the disgrace he brought upon our house,” said Hind Musallam, mother of the Mohammad Said Ismail Musallam, 19, who left home four months ago. |
| The family said they had not watched the video but said they had seen still images and confirmed it was Musallam. | The family said they had not watched the video but said they had seen still images and confirmed it was Musallam. |
| The video appeared on the Islamic State’s Furqan media outlet, and could not be immediately verified. But the source of the video and the style was consistent with previous videos from the extremist group. | The video appeared on the Islamic State’s Furqan media outlet, and could not be immediately verified. But the source of the video and the style was consistent with previous videos from the extremist group. |
| [Read: Battle for the minds of young Muslims] | |
| The 13-minute video appeared to show Musallam first sitting in a room wearing an orange jumpsuit and describing how he was recruited by the Israel intelligence agency Mossad. | The 13-minute video appeared to show Musallam first sitting in a room wearing an orange jumpsuit and describing how he was recruited by the Israel intelligence agency Mossad. |
| Then Musallam appears kneeling in a field as a bearded militant in camouflage and with his face uncovered speaks in French to the camera. “Allah granted us the grace to kill Jews in France,” he said, a reference to the attacks two months ago in Paris. | Then Musallam appears kneeling in a field as a bearded militant in camouflage and with his face uncovered speaks in French to the camera. “Allah granted us the grace to kill Jews in France,” he said, a reference to the attacks two months ago in Paris. |
| Then the militant introduces a boy standing behind Musallam as a “one of our young lions who will kill those sent by the stupid Mossad to spy on the secrets of the religious warriors and the Muslims.” | Then the militant introduces a boy standing behind Musallam as a “one of our young lions who will kill those sent by the stupid Mossad to spy on the secrets of the religious warriors and the Muslims.” |
| The boy steps forward and — standing face-to-face with the kneeling Musallam — aims a handgun at his forehead and fires one shot. Musallam crumples to the ground and the boy stands above his prostrate body and fires three more bullets, shouting “Allahu Akbar,” God is great. | The boy steps forward and — standing face-to-face with the kneeling Musallam — aims a handgun at his forehead and fires one shot. Musallam crumples to the ground and the boy stands above his prostrate body and fires three more bullets, shouting “Allahu Akbar,” God is great. |
| Israeli authorities made no official comment on the alleged slaying. | Israeli authorities made no official comment on the alleged slaying. |
| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined to speak on the matter and did not confirm whether Musallam was an Israeli citizen or a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem. | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined to speak on the matter and did not confirm whether Musallam was an Israeli citizen or a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem. |
| His parents said Musallam and the whole family were Israeli citizens, originally from the city of Jaffa on the coast near Tel Aviv. The video shows Musallam’s Israeli passport. Arab Israeli comprise about 20 percent of Israel’s population and often complain they are marginalized minority. | His parents said Musallam and the whole family were Israeli citizens, originally from the city of Jaffa on the coast near Tel Aviv. The video shows Musallam’s Israeli passport. Arab Israeli comprise about 20 percent of Israel’s population and often complain they are marginalized minority. |
| The family was gathered Wednesday morning at their modest apartment in the Neve Yaakov section of East Jerusalem, a mixed neighborhood with a majority of Jewish residents and a small but significant number of Arab Israelis. The international community considers Neve Yaakov an illegal settlement on occupied territory. Israel disputes this. | The family was gathered Wednesday morning at their modest apartment in the Neve Yaakov section of East Jerusalem, a mixed neighborhood with a majority of Jewish residents and a small but significant number of Arab Israelis. The international community considers Neve Yaakov an illegal settlement on occupied territory. Israel disputes this. |
| The Musallam family has lived in the apartment for 15 years. The parents said their slain son had graduated from high school last year and was worked as a national service volunteer with the fire department. The father, Said Musallam, drives a bus for the Egged transportation company. The mother is a house cleaner. | |
| “They say he was a spy?” his mother said, in anger and grief. “Look how we live! We are simple people. Where is all the money a spy or a traitor or a collaborator would have?” | |
| Both mother and father said their son had never worked for Israeli security agencies, either the domestic Shin Bet or the foreign intelligence service Mossad. | |
| The family said that Musallam left home four months ago. The father last month told Israeli reporters that his son had borrowed money and said he was traveling to another Israeli city . When they phoned him several days later, his mobile was turned off. | |
| Musallam’s mother said Wednesday that they believed their son went to Turkey. They did not know, they said, how he got there or how he paid for the trip. They said they only gave him $100. | |
| Two months ago, the family said they began to get messages from Musallam and men who said they knew him — texts to their telephones, e-mails, a Facebook message and video calls via Skype. | |
| “He told us he had joined Daesh,” the Arabic word used for Islamic State, said Hind Musallam. “He said his new friends like him and that he was fighting with them.” | |
| But in subsequent communications, she said, her son told the family he wanted to come home. They sent him $200, they said, to an address in Egypt. They saw his face on Skype and Facebook. He now had long hair and a beard. | |
| “He told us he was sorry, that he was seduced. He wanted to come home but they would not let him. Who would do this to our son? Not even the devil himself,” Hind Musallam said. | |
| Musallam’s father complained that the family has no official word from the Israeli government. “We are citizens,” he said and pounded a small table. “Nobody from the state has spoken with us.” | |
| Musallam’s mother added: “We have no shame. We are not collaborators or traitors or spies.” | |
| The Reuters news agency quoted an Israeli security officials saying that Musallam traveled to Turkey on Oct. 24 in order to cross the border and fight with the Islamic State in Syria. | |
| The family told a reporter with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz last month that man approached them and told them their son was in an Islamic State prison in Syria and that he had tried to leave the group and flee to Turkey. | |
| Last month, the militant’s English-language magazine, Dabiq, included an article entitled “Interview with a Spy Working for the Israeli Mossad.” | |
| In the interview, Musallam gives his name, age, hometown and says he worked as a fire fighter. He is featured in a photograph. | |
| In the article Musallam is quoted that he was recruited by “a guy named Eli,” that he attended “a training course on self-control and on how to survive an interrogation,” in addition to weapons training. | |
| The article claims he received payments of 5000 shekels ($1,500) to look for weapons dealers and Palestinians who wanted to infiltrate from the West Bank into Israel. | |
| In the alleged interview, Musallam says he was recruited by Mossad to go to Syria and report on locations of bases, weapons caches and Palestinian fighters. They gave him a phone number of a smuggler on the Turkish border. The Mossad agent told him not to contact the agency until he was a trusted fighter. | |
| In the article, the interviewer asks: “How was your cover blown?” | |
| The article says Musallam failed to follow orders, then tried to reach out to his father to come home, but that his Islamic State overseers became suspicious and he was imprisoned and confessed. | |
| Musallam’s father dismissed the article as lies and propaganda. | |
| The mother pointed to the small apartment, now crowded with cameras and reporters after news broke of the videotaped execution. | |
| “Do we really look like spies to you?” she said. | |
| Sufian Taha contributed to this report. | Sufian Taha contributed to this report. |
| Read more: | |
| Islamic State video shows burning death of Jordanian pilot |