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June 30, 2010
Judge Grants Asylum to Son of Hamas
According to news wires and sources, a judge in California has ruled immediately that Mosab Hassan Yousef, the author of Son of Hamas, can be granted political asylum in the US after he clears several of the normal steps, such as a background check. The US government has dropped its opposition without explanation.
Here's what the news wires are reporting:
The son of a Hamas founder who became a Christian and an Israeli spy will be granted U.S. asylum after he passes a routine background check, an immigration judge ruled Wednesday.
Mosab Hassan Yousef got the good news during a 15-minute deportation hearing after a U.S. Department of Homeland Security attorney said the government was dropping its objections.
The agency denied Yousef's asylum request in February 2009, arguing that he had been involved in terrorism and was a threat to the United States. Attorney Kerri Calcador gave no explanation for the government's change of heart. The immigration judge, Rico Bartolomei, ruled that Yousef will be allowed to remain in the United States after he is fingerprinted and passes a routine background check. Yousef, who has been living in San Diego, was cheered by supporters as he left the hearing and said he would like to become a U.S. citizen.
Supporters called him a hero, not a terrorist. "For 10 years, he fought terrorism in secret, hiding what he was doing and who he was," his attorney, Steven Seick, wrote in a court filing. "He deserves a safe place away from violence and fear." Yousef, 32, had argued that he would be killed if he was deported because he spied on the militant group for Israel's Shin Bet security's intelligence agency and abandoned Islam.
According to Mosab's spokesperson, he will hold a press conference by phone later today. CT will update this story after that.
According to a press statement released late Tuesday night:
Yousef’s case has initiated a sense of disbelief, and even outrage, that the man who is considered a hero in Israel for preventing a number of suicide bombings is being considered for deportation. Yesterday, Yousef received a letter signed by 22 members of Congress, that was written to DHS Secretary Napolitano in support of Yousef. In addition, Yousef has recently received a thank you letter from the Knesset for his contributions to Israel. Yousef worked with the Israeli intelligence agency called Shin Bet. His Shin Bet handler Gonen Ben-Itzhak will be at the hearing to testify in Yousef’s behalf.
Mosab and his Shin Bet handler had this to say in The Washington Post:
We believe that friendships like ours are key to eliminating hate and promoting the liberty that both our peoples so desperately desire.
For the full op-ed piece, click.
Comments
It is written: A woman shall compass a man and create a new thing in the earth (Jer 31:22), the man is Satan (Isa 14:16), the new thing in the earth is turning the hearts of the fathers to the children. Satan has deceived the whole world (Rev 12:7), until the heel of time (Gen 3:15)when a woman shall bruise him. Proverbs 18:13 He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. Prove all things. Check out the bruising of Satan at http://thegoodtale.wordpress.com or http://thegoodtale.blogspot.com
Posted By: val | June 30, 2010 6:53 PM
Glad to hear of the judge's decision and the government's decision to drop the case. There have been some doubts concerning Yousef's version of his activities on at least one CT website commentary section. One would think that an expresion of thanks by Israel's Knesset and the statements of Yousef's Shin Bet handler should put such doubts to rest.
Posted By: John H. Guthrie | June 30, 2010 10:37 PM
Than you, God.
Posted By: muse | July 1, 2010 2:44 PM
I read the book, and even if 1/2 of it is true, this man needs protection from those who would kill 1st and ask questions lately. In the book, so many times, he protected those who were doing right and brought about the downfall of those who were doing evil.
We need more people who will stand up for the moral standards of Scripture and will take the means available to protect His people. Marilyn
Posted By: Marilyn Kitchell | July 1, 2010 4:16 PM
This was an answer to many prayers, including mine.
Posted By: Thomas | July 1, 2010 9:10 PM
A nation of people, the Edomites, utterly condemned by the major writing prophets, ‘became Jews’ just over a century before the birth of Christ. According to Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian who lived just after the time of Christ, 'They (Edom) were hereafter no other than Jews' (Josephus Antiquities of the Jews, XIII ix 1; XV vii 9). Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘hated Esau (Edom)’, a people ‘against whom he has indignation forever’ (Malachi 1:2-4). Ezekiel refers to Idumea (Edom, also referred to as Mount Seir) as taking possession of the land and heritage of Israel and Judah (Ezekiel 35:10, 11, 15; 36:2, 5). The Herodian dynasty at the time of Christ were Edomites, testifying to the takeover and the word 'Jew' had almost become synonymous with these evil people. Jesus said to the Jews ‘Because you are not sheep of my flock you do not believe’ (John 10:24-27) and ‘You are of your father the devil and your will is to do your father’s desires’ (John 8:44). Pharisees = 'serpents'.
Hamas is an unattractive organisation. But we can compare Hamas with the violently racist, Nazi-like Israeli government by comparing the numbers of people killed in the brutal Israeli attack on Gaza, in which 1,400 people - almost half of them children - were killed by Israel, compared with 14 Israelis killed, mainly soldiers who were attacking a civilian population. It is a matter of shame that many 'Christians' support the (counterfeit-Israel) Goliath in this unequal, unjust war.
Posted By: Dave Ambleton | July 3, 2010 2:24 PM