Yousef: Spied on terrorists for the Israelis -- but administration insisted he has "terrorist ties."
Posted on 07/01/2010 6:39:36 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The son of one of Hamas’ founders and ex-Israeli spy Mosab Hassan Yousef was granted political asylum in the United States.
After fears that he would be deported, an attorney with the Department of Homeland Security stated Wednesday in a San Diego courtroom that the DHS no longer opposes Yousef’s asylum petition.
“Honestly, I am still in shock,” wrote Yousef on his personal blog. “We were prepared for several hours of testimony and defense. But 15 minutes after we walked into the courtroom, it was over.”
Since the DHS no longer seeks to deport Yousef, Judge Rico Bartolomei granted him temporary political asylum while a routine background check is pending.
“As we drove home through San Diego, we thanked God for his grace and for all those he used to make this happen,” wrote Yousef, who has become an outspoken Christian after converting from Islam.
Initially, the DHS sought to deport Yousef because he was viewed as a threat to American national security for his engagement in terrorist activities.
Yousef, the eldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, was intimately involved in Hamas activities while working as an undercover spy for the Israeli security agency Shin Bet. As the son of the most prominent founding member of Hamas in the West Bank, Yousef had access to top secret information about the terrorist group and to most wanted members of Hamas.
In his bestselling book Son of Hamas, Yousef explained that he helped Israel because he wanted to save lives. Hamas, although it started out with noble intentions to stand up for Palestinian rights, has become increasingly violent and corrupt over the years, said Yousef. Many innocent civilians were killed because of Hamas suicide bombers.
The Hamas insider gave the Shin Bet information on the location of most wanted Hamas leaders responsible for instigating violence.
While working as an agent for the Shin Bet, he met a British missionary in 1999 who invited him to attend Bible studies in Israel. Six years later, Yousef gave his life to Christ and became a Christian. His father disowned him after finding out he converted to Christianity and was a spy for the Shin Bet.
Yousef has stated that he believes true peace between Israel and the Palestinian people can only come when both sides learn the principle of forgiveness and unconditional love as taught by Jesus.
“There can be fake peace in the Middle East. They might establish a Palestinian state and everybody will think that there will be peace but I’m sure that the only peace that can come to the Middle East is the peace and love of Jesus Christ,” said Yousef to Christian journalists in March.
Yousef currently resides in San Diego, Calif., where he attends a Baptist church that knows him by his English name – Joseph.
Has anyone read his book and can comment on it?
I haven’t read his book, but I heard him interviewed by Dennis Prager. Very, very compelling story.
I can’t imagine that the genuises at Homeland Security really thought that he was a threat to the U.S., and it’s amazing that they even thought about sending him back to a certain death after the service that he performed for good.
I’ve heard 3 separate interviews with him.
Yousef is the son of a founder of Hamas, a terrorist organization that has killed scores of Americans, Israelis and Palestinians. He grew up hating Israel, even throwing rocks at Jewish homeowners. At 18, he was captured by Israeli soldiers.
Things changed in 1996, after his conviction for buying three illegal guns. Serving 16 months in an Israeli prison, he was impressed with the “humanity” of his Israeli interrogators. He began to see the darker side of Hamas, which his father had shielded him from. From his fellow inmates, he learned that Hamas tortures and kills its own members.
His eyes opened, Yousef agreed to become a covert operative for the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet. “Shin Bet recruited and directed me to act like a terrorist and live like a terrorist,” Yousef said in a sworn statement, “in order to gather intelligence on Hamas and other Palestinian organizations.”
Inside Shin Bet, he was dubbed “the Green Prince.”
One night in Ramallah, Shin Bet was urgently searching for a suicide bomber, but didn’t have his name or photo. Yousef’s handler asked him to go into the crowded Manara square to find the bomber. Drawing on his experience with Hamas, Yousef quickly spotted the man and trailed him to his contact, who was handing him an explosive belt. He alerted Shin Bet, which swarmed in.
In another case, five would-be suicide bombers literally knocked on his door — turning to Yousef for help (because of his family) after their contact was captured. He gave them tea, money and a ride to a Hamas safe house — then tipped off Shin Bet, which encircled the hideout. The terrorists opened fire. When the smoke cleared, one terrorist was dead and four others captured — another mass murder thwarted.
Yousef’s information led to the capture of senior Hamas officials and the murderers of five American students killed at Hebrew University.
While saving the lives of others, he rethought his own faith. Raised a strict Muslim, he secretly began to study Christianity in 1999. He was baptized in 2005 I made a mistake in the above title... the gospel was shared with him 10 years ago. It took him 5 years before he decided to convert).
Well, that’s a bit of good news! I’ve been worried about this case.
Have never seen so many duped people, there is not one bit of proof that any of the BS story is true. How do people know the fool isn’t a double agent.
Obviously we cannot know for sure if he is a double agent or not. However, his profile is too public and surveillance on him too consistent for him to pose as a double agent threat.
No one who knows US military or security-related information is going befriend him to a point where vital data will be provided for him.
I’d personally bet that his own life is in danger... from Islamists.
Anyone who is known to Hamas as an apostate and a traitor could survive anywhere in Israel, except in an isolation cell in prison.
could = could not
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