Son of Hamas
| Mosab Hassan Yousef | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Mosab Hassan Yousef May 5, 1978 Ramallah, Palestinian territories |
| Residence | San Diego, California, United States |
| Other names | Joseph |
| Known for | Covert defection to Israel in 1997, and conversion from Islam to Christianity |
| Parent(s) | Sheikh Hassan Yousef (father) |
Mosab Hassan Yousef (Arabic: مصعب حسن يوسف; born May 5, 1978) is a Palestinian who worked undercover for Israel's internal security service Shin Bet from 1997 to 2007.
Shin Bet considered him its most valuable source within the Hamas leadership: The information Yousef supplied prevented dozens of suicide attacks and assassinations of Israelis, exposed numerous Hamas cells, and assisted Israel in hunting down many militants, including the incarceration of his own father, a Hamas leader, Sheikh Hassan Yousef. In March 2010, he published his autobiography titled Son of Hamas.
In 1999, Yousef converted to Christianity, and in 2007, he moved to the United States. His request for political asylum in the United States was granted pending a routine background check on June 30, 2010.
Mosab Hassan Yousef (later Joseph) was born in Ramallah, a city 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) north of Jerusalem. His father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, was a Hamas leader who spent many years in Israeli prisons. He is the oldest of five brothers and three sisters.
When Yousef was growing up, he wanted to be a fighter because that was expected of Palestinian children in the West Bank. Yousef was first arrested when he was ten, during the First Intifada, for throwing rocks at Israeli settlers. He was further arrested and jailed by Israel numerous times. As his father's eldest son, he was seen as his heir apparent, and became an important part of the Hamas organization. Yousef's 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. Yousef was held by Shin Bet agents in 1996. While in prison, he was shocked by Shin Bet's interrogation methods, which he considered humane, when compared to how Hamas operatives tortured imprisoned suspected collaborators. He decided to accept a Shin Bet offer to become an informant.
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