Political Asylum Granted to Mosab Hassan Yousef

Dan Wooding
Continetal News

Mosab Hassan Yousef, author of the best-selling, “Son of Hamas” who, on Wednesday, June 30, 2010, won the right to stay in the Unites States after a huge campaign by both Christians and Jews had called for him to be granted U.S. asylum, says he is still in “shock” at the news.

With his friends in court to support him, Yousef got the information during a 15-minute deportation hearing in San Diego, California, after a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attorney said the government was dropping its objections.

Yousef, the eldest son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, became a Christian some time back after being given a Gospel tract in Jerusalem by a London taxi driver who was on vacation in the Holy Land.

After his conversion, he later became a spy for Israel’s Shin Bet agency and their leadership had praised his courage.

The battle to keep Yousef in America began when the DHS denied his asylum request in February 2009, claiming that he had been involved in terrorism and was a threat to the United States.

Yousef has now broken his silence and revealed his feelings in his latest blog in which he said, “Honestly, I am still in shock. I was sitting beside my attorney, focused on how I would answer the questions that were coming. Gonen ben Itzhak, my dear friend and former Shin Bet handler, had flown in from Israel to testify on my behalf and waited with a security guard in the empty courtroom next door.

“Judge Rico Bartolomei was entering into the record all the documents and motions that had been introduced since my last hearing, getting everybody on the same page before we started.

“That done, he called for Gonen.

“That’s when DHS senior attorney Kerri Calcador dropped the bombshell. The Department of Homeland Security, she said, no longer opposes the asylum petition of Mosab Hassan Yousef.”

Yousef went on to say, “No one in the courtroom could get hold of what had just happened. Not me, not the judge, not my attorney. We were prepared for several hours of testimony and defense. But 15 minutes after we walked into the courtroom, it was over.

“There was nothing left to do. Judge Bartolomei granted me political asylum, pending a routine background check, rose and left the courtroom. Then the security guards efficiently led all of us out of the courtroom, down the halls, through the razor-wired fences and out into the parking lot, where a crowd of well-wishers applauded and cheered and network cameras rolled.

“As we drove home through San Diego, we thanked God for his grace and for all those he used to make this happen. For countless people around the world who prayed for me.”

He went on to thank the following:

“For U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), who circulated a letter through the House of Representatives that was co-sponsored by 21 other congressmen, asking DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to give “full consideration . . . to Mr. Yousef’s views and conduct in recent years, particularly his cooperation with Shin Bet at significant risk to his own safety and life.”

“Signatories include Representatives Frank Wolf (VA), Trent Franks (AZ), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Bill Posey (FL), Kenny Marchant (TX), John Kline (MN), John Shadegg (AZ), Joe Wilson (SC), Daniel Lungren (CA), John Boozman (AK), Michele Bachmann (MN), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Bill Shuster (PA), Joseph Pitts (PA), Lynn Jenkins (KS), Rob Bishop (UT), Jeff Fortenberry (NE), Dan Rohrabacher (CA), Robert Aderholt (AL), Mike Pence (IN) and Aaron Schock (IL).

“For Tzachi Hanegbi, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of The Knesset (Israeli Parliament), MK Einat Wilf and other committee members for their very kind letter thanking me for my ‘actions to strengthen the security of Israeli citizens and Palestinian residents from 1998 to 2007.’

“For the wisdom and integrity of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano.

“I am especially grateful to Sarah Stern, president of the Endowment for Middle Eastern Truth. Today’s blessings would not have happened without her and this amazing organization.”

So now, he is a free man in America, and now with this crisis behind him, we all need to pray for his safety as he fearlessly shares his faith in Jesus Christ.