Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of the founders of Hamas, is an enigma on the world stage. He was born in Ramallah in 1978 the oldest of eight children. Mosab’s father is a prominent Hamas leader. He was considered the obvious successor to his father. At the tender age of ten years old, Mosab had a clear direction in life. He was a young ‘freedom fighter,’ already throwing stones at Israelis.
Israeli interrogation versus Hamas interrogation
The Israelis arrested Mosab and interrogated him. He was blown-away by the difference between Israeli interrogation methods and the Hamas interrogations. He observed Hamas prisoners who endured torture and horrors. Yousef agreed to become an informer for the Israeli intelligence on condition that they would not kill anyone based on information he gave, but only arrest them. Later Yousef converted to Christianity and found asylum in the United States.
What is his motivation?
It is hard to understand what motivates a young boy to move away from all that he has been taught to believe, risking his life in the process. As Yair Lapid (then a television personality and now an Israeli MK) says to him in an interview on Israeli television, “I ask myself whether this is courage or total craziness.” It is hard to fathom that a young Muslim man will leave his father’s beliefs in the Middle East. But Mosab did much more than this. Mosab converted to Christianity and now speaks against the Muslim religion. He calls Islam a drug. To say the least, this guy is going out on a limb to fight the way of life of Islam.
Mosab Hassan Yousef is someone who has experienced both worlds, extreme Islam as well as western culture. He has a very important message for the world.