July 2, 2010
The following originally appeared in a recent Religious Liberty Program e-newsletter. If you would like to receive our weekly e-newsletter, click here and select “Religious Liberty.”
Find additional newsletters in the IRD E-Newsletter Archive.
The subject of my e-newsletter today is the same as it was last time. But the circumstances sure have changed!
Mosab Hassan Yousef, the oldest son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, has been granted political asylum in the United States! At his deportation hearing on Wednesday in San Diego, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security officially dismissed its deportation case against Mosab and the Immigration Judge, Rico Bartolomei, said, “Yousef will be allowed to remain in the U.S. after he is fingerprinted and passes routine background checks,” according to an AP report. In a mere 15 minutes, Yousef was out of the courtroom and being cheered by a crowd of enthusiastic, delighted supporters.
We were outraged that the U.S. intended to deport Mosab for providing material support to terrorists even though he was actually working undercover for the Israeli security agency Shin Bet. It turned out that a lot of other people were outraged, as well. Prayers and petitions for Mosab went up across the internet on websites, blogs, and through Facebook and email, as well as in the more conventional methods of non-electronic conversation! In my last e-newsletter I mentioned the coalition of bloggers that had launched the “Save Mosab Yousef” site. IRD was set to join these activists in a campaign in Mosab’s behalf if he had been ordered with deportation or, as was threatened earlier, the judge had granted asylum but the DHS decided to appeal the verdict.
Now we have the much more pleasant task of thanking the members of Congress who went to bat for Mosab! U.S. Representative Doug Lamborn (R-CO) drafted a letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano in Mosab’s behalf. Lamborn urged Napolitano to give “full consideration” to Mosab’s “courageous work to prevent acts of terror.”
Representatives Trent Franks, Mike Pence, Frank Wolf, Joe Pitts, Rob Bishop, Bill Posey, John Shadegg, John Kline, Cynthia Lummis, Kenny Marchant, Aaron Schock, Michelle Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn, Bill Shuster, Lynn Jenkins, Jeff Fortenberry, Robert Aderholt, Dana Rohrabacher, John Boozman, Joe Wilson, and Dan Lungren joined Lamborn in signing the letter. Why not send each of these Congressmen a thank you note, phone call, or email.
On his website, Mr. Lamborn now says, “I am deeply gratified to know that Mosab’s life has been spared. He was an instrument for good in the Middle East. He saved countless innocent lives by exposing and preventing acts of terrorism plotted by Hamas.
“To deport him would have been a betrayal of American values and would only have emboldened terrorists. Mosab rejected the hate-driven culture of Hamas and sought instead to promote peace in the Middle East. I hold the highest respect for him and I thank him for his courage. I pray that he will continue in his inspired mission to defeat the dark forces of terrorism.”
Former CIA director James Woolsey also wrote a letter defending Mosab in which he said that Mosab was a “remarkable young man” who should be commended for “extraordinary heroism and courage.” He also said that his deportation would discourage other potential spies. “It is not an exaggeration to say that such an action would set us back years in the war on terrorism,” Woolsey wrote in a letter released by Mosab’s attorney. “Mosab’s deportation would be such an inhumane act it would constitute a blight on American history.”
I met Mosab last week at the Endowment for Middle East Truth’s (EMET) fourth annual “Rays of Light in the Darkness” dinner honoring five great “speakers of truth.” Mosab was one of honorees and I was privileged to sit at his table, across from his literary agent for Son of Hamas. It was good to learn that IRD’s press release about the threatened deportment was a great help to them.
I also met Mosab’s Israeli handler, retired Israeli military officer Captain Gonen Ben-Itzhak, who at great personal risk blew his own cover in order to defend Mosab. Captain Gonen had come to the United States to testify on Mosab’s behalf and vouch for his authenticity.
According to a report, “For almost seven years, the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef – one of the founders of Hamas and one of the Islamist organization’s leaders in the West Bank — supplied G. [Gonen] with accurate information on developments involving the top brass of Hamas, plans for suicide-bomber attacks and the whereabouts of wanted individuals. Together, G. and Yousef prevented dozens of terrorist attacks and thwarted plans to assassinate leading Israeli figures, such as President Shimon Peres and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.”
The two wrote an op-ed together, “Why Deport a Friend to Middle East Peace?”, that appeared in the pages of The Washington Post on the day of Mosab’s hearing. The love and brotherhood shared by the two men was an amazing witness. And speaking of amazing witnesses, at the EMET dinner Mosab spoke with great passion and conviction about being set free by the Truth and talked of his God, the Lord Jesus Christ! He declared that he would continue to “fight the ideology of the terrorists,” because he knows “how they think.”
We rejoice that the Lord changed the hearts of those in the U.S. government who wanted to deport Mosab Hassan Yousef, and we thank Him for His faithfulness to our brother. Now Mosab is free – just in time to celebrate the birthday of America, the land of freedom. May it ever be so.
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