Israeli Spy on Hamas Granted Asylum in the U.S.

Thursday July 01, 2010 07:43 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Mos’ab, the son of senior Hamas political leader, Hasan Yousef, was granted asylum by a U.S. Immigration Judge when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security dropped its objections against allowing him to remain in the country.

The judge ruled Wednesday that after Mos’ab passes some routine background security checks he will be granted the asylum.

Mos’ab, 32, spied on Hamas for nearly 10 years and his imprisoned father, Sheikh Hasan Yousef, has officially disowned him. Hasan Yousef is serving a six-year term in an Israeli prison.

The Wednesday hearing only lasted for 15 minutes and the spy was granted asylum.

In February of 2009, the United States denied Mos’ab’s request to receive asylum in the country after the Department of Homeland Security said that he “was involved in terrorism and is considered a threat to the United States”.

But this stance changed without any official statement and Mos’ab is now allowed to remain in the United States.

He lives in San Diego and said that he hopes that one day he will become a U.S. citizen and aspires to achieve his masters degree in history and philosophy.

His lawyer said that Mos’ab “fought terrorism for 10 years”, referring to the years he spied on Hamas for Israel, and added that his client “deserves to live in a safe place, away from threats and violence”.

Yousef told the court that should he be sent back to the West Bank he would be killed by his family and by the Hamas movement for spying for Israel’s intelligence agency, Shin Bet.

The spy claims that he “was a terrorist” working for Hamas, and even working for the late President, Yasser Arafat, of the rival Fateh movement.

It is worth mentioning that several members of the U.S.. Congress and the former CIA director, James Woolsey supported Mos’ab in his effort to gain asylum in the United States.

Israeli Ynet reported that several members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee wrote letters to Mos’ab to “thank him” and to “recognize his work for the Shin Bet”.

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