Jump to content

Mosab Hassan Yousef: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→‎Early life: naughty, naughty,
→‎Early life: more accurate, per the source
Line 4: Line 4:
'''Mosab Hassan Yousef''' was born in [[Ramallah]], a city 10 kilometers north of [[Jerusalem]]. His father, [[sheikh]] [[Hassan Yousef]], was a Hamas founder and leader who spent numerous years in Israeli prisons.<ref name="dt08" /><ref name="wsj">{{cite news|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703915204575103481069258868.html|title=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.|last=Kaminski|first=Matthew|date=5 March 2010|publisher=Wall Street Journal|accessdate=7 March 2010}}</ref><ref name="az" /> He was the oldest of six brothers and two sisters.<ref name="dt08" /><ref name="soh">{{cite web|url=http://sonofhamas.com/?page_id=8|title=Son of Hamas|accessdate=14 March 2010}}</ref>
'''Mosab Hassan Yousef''' was born in [[Ramallah]], a city 10 kilometers north of [[Jerusalem]]. His father, [[sheikh]] [[Hassan Yousef]], was a Hamas founder and leader who spent numerous years in Israeli prisons.<ref name="dt08" /><ref name="wsj">{{cite news|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703915204575103481069258868.html|title=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.|last=Kaminski|first=Matthew|date=5 March 2010|publisher=Wall Street Journal|accessdate=7 March 2010}}</ref><ref name="az" /> He was the oldest of six brothers and two sisters.<ref name="dt08" /><ref name="soh">{{cite web|url=http://sonofhamas.com/?page_id=8|title=Son of Hamas|accessdate=14 March 2010}}</ref>


According to Yousef, when he was growing up he wanted to be a fighter because that was expected from Arab children in the West Bank.<ref name="cnn-transcript">{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/02/ampr.01.html|title=An Israeli-Hamas Double Agent Speaks about Career in Intelligence|date=2 March 2010|publisher=CNN|accessdate=14 March 2010}}</ref> Yousef was first arrested when he was ten, during the [[First Intifada]], for throwing rocks at Israeli civilians.<ref name="cnn-transcript" /> He was further arrested and jailed by the Israelis numerous times.<ref name="az" /> As he was his father's oldest son, he was seen as his heir apparent<ref name="dt08" /> and became an important part of the Hamas organization.<ref name="az" />
According to Yousef, when he was growing up he wanted to be a fighter because that was expected from Arab children in the West Bank.<ref name="cnn-transcript">{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/02/ampr.01.html|title=An Israeli-Hamas Double Agent Speaks about Career in Intelligence|date=2 March 2010|publisher=CNN|accessdate=14 March 2010}}</ref> Yousef was first arrested when he was ten, during the [[First Intifada]], for throwing rocks at Israeli settlers.<ref name="cnn-transcript" /> He was further arrested and jailed by the Israelis numerous times.<ref name="az" /> As he was his father's oldest son, he was seen as his heir apparent<ref name="dt08" /> and became an important part of the Hamas organization.<ref name="az" />


==Work for Shin Bet==
==Work for Shin Bet==

Revision as of 19:35, 18 March 2010

Mosab Hassan Yousef (Arabic: مصعب حسن يوسف) (now known as Joseph[1]) (born 1978[2]) is an Arab-American and son of a Hamas founder and leader who spied for Israel from 1997 to 2007.[3] Israel's internal security service, Shin Bet, considered Yousef the most valuable source within the Hamas leadership.[3] The information Yousef supplied prevented dozens of suicide attacks, the assassination of Israelis, and exposed numerous terrorist groups.[3] 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.

Early life

Mosab Hassan Yousef was born in Ramallah, a city 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem. His father, sheikh Hassan Yousef, was a Hamas founder and leader who spent numerous years in Israeli prisons.[1][4][2] He was the oldest of six brothers and two sisters.[1][5]

According to Yousef, when he was growing up he wanted to be a fighter because that was expected from Arab children in the West Bank.[6] Yousef was first arrested when he was ten, during the First Intifada, for throwing rocks at Israeli settlers.[6] He was further arrested and jailed by the Israelis numerous times.[2] As he was his father's oldest son, he was seen as his heir apparent[1] and became an important part of the Hamas organization.[2]

Work for Shin Bet

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.[7]

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.

Conversion to Christianity

In 1999, Yousef met a British missionary who introduced him to Christianity.[1] Between the years 1999 and 2000, Yousef converted to Christianity and was baptized in 2005; 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.[3][8]

In March 2007, Yousef moved to San Diego, California, in the United States, where he joined the Barabbas Road Church.[1]

2008 revelation about conversion to Christianity

In August 2008, Yousef publicly revealed his conversion to Christianity and began denouncing Hamas and the Arab leadership, thereby endangering himself and exposing his family in Ramallah to persecution.[1] Yousef said his goals in revealing the "evil" nature of the leadership to the world was to bring peace to the Middle East.[1] He said he hopes to return to Israel when there is peace.[1]

2010 revelation about spying for Israel

In March 2010, with the publication of Son of Hamas, Yousef's spying activity became public.

Family reactions

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.[9]

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."[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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)
  2. ^ a b c d "Mosab Hassan Yousef Biography". Amazon.com. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  3. ^ 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; and: "Israel's spy in Hamas" (Part II). {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ Kaminski, Matthew (5 March 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.
  5. ^ "Son of Hamas". Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  6. ^ a b "An Israeli-Hamas Double Agent Speaks about Career in Intelligence". CNN. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  7. ^ 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)
  8. ^ Harel, Amos (24 February 2010). "When Palestinians keep Israelis safe". Haaretz. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  9. ^ a b Flower, Kevin (3 March 2010). "Report: Hamas founder's son worked for Israel". CNN. Retrieved 7 March 2010.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mosab_Hassan_Yousef&oldid=350648886"