BREAKING NEWS: Hamas Founder’s Christian Son Granted Asylum in U.S.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 | Tag Cloud Tags: | Learn about out FREE SYNDICATION

By George Whitten, Worthy News Jerusalem Bureau Chief

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (Worthy News) — The son of a founder of the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas, who became a Christian and spied for Israel, will be granted political asylum in the United States as the Department of Homeland Security dropped its objections, Worthy News learned late Wednesday, June 30.

Judge Rico Bartolemei ruled that Masab Hassan Yousef, 32, will be granted political asylum August 26 after he is fingerprinted and passes a routine background check. His attorney, Steven Seick welcomed the decision.

“For 10 years, he fought terrorism in secret, hiding what he was doing and who he was. He deserves a safe place away from violence and fear,” he said. There was no immediate reaction from Israel.

Masab Hassan Yousef,  the eldest son of Hamas founder Hassan Yousef,  was recruited by Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, in 1997. Israeli agents have been quoted as saying that his information prevented multiple terrorist attacks.

Gonen ben Itzhak, Yousef’s former Shin Bet handler, confirmed his identity last week in a bid to bring attention to Yousef’s plight. He travelled to the hearing from Israel, however no witnesses were called to testify because the U.S. government dropped its opposition.

“NO TERRORIST”

“Basically, I wanted to say that Mosab was not a terrorist,” he told reporters after Wednesday’s proceedings. “He was not affiliated with Hamas. He’s a great guy and he should get asylum.”

Former CIA Director James Woolsey wrote in a letter released by Yousef’s attorney that Yousef is, “a remarkable young man” who should be commended for his “extraordinary heroism and courage.”  Woolsey added that “It is not an exaggeration to say that such an action would set us back years in the war on terrorism,” and that it would be “such an inhumane act” if he were not granted asylum that “it would constitute a blight on American history.”

Yousef has been living in California since 2007.

If Yousef, had not been granted asylum he would likely have been killed if he was deported back to Palestinian territories, his supporters said, because he prevented terror attacks and abandoned Islam while working with Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency.

We're being CENSORED ... HELP get the WORD OUT! SHARE!!!
Fair Use Notice:This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Worthy Christian News