June 30, 2010
‘Son of Hamas’ to be granted asylum
Follow JewishJournal.com on 
The United States has dropped deportation proceedings against the son of a Hamas founder who served as a spy for Israel’s Shin Bet security service.
Mosab Hassan Yousef will be granted asylum in the United States following a routine background check, an immigration judge ruled Wednesday during a deportation hearing in San Diego, Calif. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security attorney said during the short hearing that the government was dropping its objections to the asylum request.
Yousef, 32, a convert to Christianity, has lived in the United States since 2007.
The eldest son of Hassan Yousef, a founder of the Palestinian terrorist group, Yousef was recruited by the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, in 1997. Israeli agents have been quoted as saying that his information has prevented multiple terrorist attacks.
Yousef has written of his experience in a recent book, “Son of Hamas,” and now promotes the book on the conservative and pro-Israel speaking circuits.
Immigration authorities originally rejected his request for asylum, apparently based on his acknowledgment in his book that he worked for Hamas—even though he was employed in order to spy for Israel.
Hassan Yousef, who has been held in an Israeli prison since 2005, said in a statement following reports that his son had spied for Israel that he and his wife, as well as his other children, disowned their oldest son.
