Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices

Yousef is a Palestinian American author and activist. He was born in Ramallah, a city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in 1978 and is the eldest son of Hassan Yousef, a respected local imam. During the First Intifada, his father became a co-founder of the militant group Hamas and spent much of Yousef’s childhood in and out of Israeli prisons. Yousef took part in protests against Israeli rule in his youth. In 1995, he was arrested by Israeli authorities on suspicion of being a major Hamas leader and was eventually offered to serve as a spy within Hamas for Shin Bet, the Israeli intelligence organization. Yousef accepted this offer, and he served as an informant during the violent Second Intifada (2000-2005).

He used his role as the trusted son of a Hamas leader to help Israel better understand the organization and root out even more militant factions that grew from it. By his own account, he helped foil many terrorist bombings and bring to justice the perpetrators of other bombings. In 2007, Yousef ended his service with Shin Bet, moved to the United States, and publicly declared his conversion to Christianity. After the publication of Son of Hamas made him a public figure, he has become a prominent speaker, often visiting college campuses to denounce terrorism and praise Israel.