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"SON OF HAMAS" (Mosab Hussein Youssef)
"SON OF HAMAS" (Mosab Hassan Yousef)
Mosab Hassan Yousef[a] (born 5 May 1978) is an American author and former Palestinian militant who defected to Israel in 1997, thereafter working as an Israeli spy for the Shin Bet until he moved to the United States in 2007. His father is Hassan Yousef, a co-founder of the Palestinian Islamist organisation Hamas. A New York Times bestselling author, he is known for his outspoken criticisms of Hamas, the pro-Palestinian movement and Islam's treatment of non-Muslims.[2][3]
The Shin Bet considered Yousef to be Israel's most valuable source within the Hamas leadership: the information he supplied allowed Israel to successfully thwart dozens of Palestinian suicide attacks against civilians and prevent the assassinations of many Israeli civilians and soldiers; exposed numerous Hamas cells; and assisted Israeli authorities in hunting down Palestinian militants. His efforts also culminated in the incarceration of his father, who had served as a leading figure for Hamas operations from the West Bank.[4][5] In March 2010, Yousef published his autobiography, titled Son of Hamas.[6]
In 1999, Yousef converted from Islam to Christianity, being formally baptised in 2004, but did not disclose this fact to the public until 2008 due to fears that his family members in Ramallah would become targets for religious persecution by Islamist groups.[7][1] In 2007, he left the West Bank and moved to the United States where he applied for political asylum and had his request granted by American authorities in 2010 following Shin Bet handler Gonen Ben Itzhak testifying on his behalf.[8] Yousef has compared Islam to Nazism,[9] has said he has "zero respect for anyone who identifies as Muslim", and accused Muslims of using Palestine as "a device against Israel".[10][11] Palestinian students and community leaders at university campuses have accused him of Islamophobia, and his speeches have attracted protests both in support of and opposition to his controversial views.[12][13][14]
Early life and family
Mosab Hassan Yousef was born in Ramallah, in the West Bank. His father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, is a Hamas co-founder who spent many years in Israeli prisons as a result of his militant activities.[1][15] His grandfather was an imam.[16] He is the oldest of five brothers and three sisters; in 2019, one of his brothers, Suheib Yousef, also left Hamas.[1][17][18]He has described his upbringing as traditional, noting that he initially supported Hamas's political stance before his later break with the group's methods. In an interview, Yousef stated he was raped when he was approximately 5-6 years old, and he did not speak up about it due to fear of an honor killing; he also stated that having to heal on his own from the rape was "a hell of a journey".[19][20][21] Growing up, Yousef has said he wanted to be a "fighter" because that was expected of Palestinian children in the West Bank.[22] Yousef was first arrested by the IDF when he was ten, during the First Intifada, for throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers and/or settlers.[22][clarification needed] As his father's eldest son, he was seen as his heir apparent.[1]
Defection to Israel
Yousef said he saw the light after a stint in an Israeli jail during the mid-1990s. At Megiddo Prison, he witnessed Hamas inmates leading a brutal year-long campaign to weed out supposed Israeli collaborators. "During that time, Hamas tortured and killed hundreds of prisoners," he said, recalling vivid memories of needles being inserted under fingernails and bodies charred with burning plastics. Many, if not all, had nothing to do with Israeli intelligence. "I will never forget their screams," he continued. "I started asking myself a question. What if Hamas succeeded in destroying Israel and building a state. Will they destroy our people in this way?"[23]Yousef said that his doubts about Islam and Hamas began forming when he realized Hamas' brutality, and that he hated how Hamas used the lives of suffering civilians and children to achieve its goals.[1] Yousef was held by Shin Bet agents in 1996. While in prison, he decided to accept a Shin Bet offer to become an informant, on the basis that,
THEIR ARE MANY AMAZING YouTube VIDEOS WHERE HE SAYS WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO HEAR!
SON OF HAMAS
