Mosab Hassan Yousef: Difference between revisions
Imad marie (talk | contribs) The telegraph source says he's 30. Also, it's not our job to do any calculations |
|||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''Mosab Hassan Yousef''' ([[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]]: مصعب حسن يوسف) (now known as '''Joseph'''<ref name="dt08">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/2613399/Mosab-Hassan-Yousef-son-of-Hamas-leader-becomes-a-Christian.html|title=Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Hamas leader, becomes a Christian |last= Elsworth |first=Catherine |coauthors= Carolynne Wheeler|date=24 August 2008|publisher=Daily Telegraph|accessdate=7 March 2010}}</ref |
'''Mosab Hassan Yousef''' ([[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]]: مصعب حسن يوسف) (now known as '''Joseph'''<ref name="dt08">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/2613399/Mosab-Hassan-Yousef-son-of-Hamas-leader-becomes-a-Christian.html|title=Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Hamas leader, becomes a Christian |last= Elsworth |first=Catherine |coauthors= Carolynne Wheeler|date=24 August 2008|publisher=Daily Telegraph|accessdate=7 March 2010}}</ref>) is an Arab-American and son of a [[Hamas]] founder and leader who spied for Israel from 1997 to 2007.<ref name="h24" /> Israel's internal security service, [[Shin Bet]], considered Yousef the most valuable source within the Hamas leadership.<ref name="h24" /> The information Yousef supplied prevented dozens of suicide attacks, the assassination of Israelis, and exposed numerous terrorist groups.<ref name="h24" /> Yousef has since converted to Christianity and moved to California, in the United States.<ref name="dt08" /> In March 2010, he published his autobiography, ''Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices.'' |
||
==Biography== |
==Biography== |
||
Revision as of 20:49, 7 March 2010
Mosab Hassan Yousef (Arabic: مصعب حسن يوسف) (now known as Joseph[1]) is an Arab-American and son of a Hamas founder and leader who spied for Israel from 1997 to 2007.[2] Israel's internal security service, Shin Bet, considered Yousef the most valuable source within the Hamas leadership.[2] The information Yousef supplied prevented dozens of suicide attacks, the assassination of Israelis, and exposed numerous terrorist groups.[2] Yousef has since converted to Christianity and moved to California, in the United States.[1] In March 2010, he published his autobiography, Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices.
Biography
Mosab Hassan Yousef was born to Hassan Yousef and Salsabin.[1] His father was a sheikh and a Hamas founder and leader.[1] He has five brothers and two sisters.[1] Yousef grew up in Ramallah, a city 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem.[3]
Yousef's doubts about Islam and Hamas began forming when he realized Hamas' brutality.[1] Yousef says that he hated how Hamas used the lives of suffering civilians and children to achieve their goals.[1]
Yousef was held by Shin Bet agents in 1996. It was at this time that he was recruited as an agent, and was released from prison in 1997. Since his release, Yousef was considered the Shin Bet's most reliable source in the Hamas leadership, earning himself the nickname the "Green Prince" - using the color of the Islamist group's flag, and "prince" because of his pedigree as the son of one of the movement's founders. The intelligence he supplied Israel led to the exposure of a number of terrorist cells, and to the prevention of dozens of suicide bombings and assassination attempts on Israeli figures. None of Yousef's actions were done for money.[4]
Yousef supplied intelligence that led to the arrests of several key Palestinian leaders, including Ibrahim Hamid, a Hamas commander in the West Bank, and Marwan Barghouti. Also, Yousef claims to have thwarted a 2001 plot to blow up Shimon Peres, then foreign minister and now President of Israel.
In 1999, Yousef met a British missionary who introduced him to Christianity.[1] Between the years 1999 and 2000, Yousef converted to Christianity; he left the West Bank for the United States in 2007 and now lives in California. Yousef's autobiography, Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices (ISBN 1414333072), written with the assistance of Ron Brackin, was published in March, 2010.[2][5]
In February 2007, Yousef moved to San Diego, California, in the United States, where he joined the Barabbas Road Church.[1]
Reactions
Family
Ouwais Yousef, Mosab's brother, denounced the report of his brother's activities, saying "It was full of lies -- it's all lies"; he also revealed that the last contact between his family and Mosab took place over a year before the news of his spying.[6]
Yousef's father, while in an Israeli prison, disowned his son for spying for Israel: "I, Sheikh Hassan Yussef... my wife, sons and daughters announce that we have completely disowned the man who was our oldest son and who is called Mosab".
Hamas
The Haaretz report on Yousef was described by Hamas MP Mushir al-Masri as "psychological war being waged against the Palestinian people...[it] did not deserve a response."[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Elsworth, Catherine (24 August 2008). "Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Hamas leader, becomes a Christian". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d Issacharoff, Avi (24 February 2010). "Haaretz exclusive: Hamas founder's son worked for Shin Bet for years". Haaretz. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ Kaminski, Matthew (5 May 2010). "They Need to Be Liberated From Their God'; The 'Son of Hamas' author on his conversion to Christianity, spying for Israel, and shaming his family". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ Sherwell, Philip (27 February 2010). "'I saved Shimon Peres from plot' says son of Hamas founder". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Harel, Amos (24 February 2010). "When Palestinians keep Israelis safe". Haaretz. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ a b Flower, Kevin (3 March 2010). "Report: Hamas founder's son worked for Israel". CNN. Retrieved 7 March 2010.