“Hamas is literally a death cult.”
That’s not a quote from Benjamin Netenyahu, or Benny Gantz or AIPAC, or even a Zionist or a Jew. That’s what Mosab Yousef said Monday night at Temple Sinai in Denver.
Amir Eden, former IDF soldier and Director of FIDF, interviews Mosab Yousef, the son of one of the founders of Hamas. Credit: David Flomberg
For those who don’t know, Yousef — whose incredible story is recounted in the documentary The Green Prince, based on his autobiography Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices — is the eldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of the co-founders and current leaders of the terrorist organization who infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, slaughtering 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage, sparking a war that has now lasted more than a year. It was the single worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
Mosab, the eldest of eight siblings, was raised with the expectation to one day succeed his father in Hamas. Instead, after serving time in an Israeli prison in the mid-1990s and bearing witness to the brutality Hamas militants visited upon other Palestinians in custody, he eventually came around 180º to hate the violent, brutal regime he was being groomed to lead. Yousef went on to join the Shin Bet as an informant, where he worked to provide intel around suicide bombings waged during the first two intifadas for more than a decade.
“My only rule was only to help save lives, and not to hurt anyone,” he said, recounting his experiences in front of a crowd of more than 300 people in Sinai’s chapel. The crowd greeted him with a standing ovation before he even spoke a word. His interviewer was Amir Eden, former IDF soldier and the Director of the Friends of the IDF non-profit branches in Colorado and Nevada, who hosted the event.
Attendees at the event Monday at Temple Sinai watch a video about the FIDF non-profit. Credit: David Flomberg
“And for 10 years I did this. I was the first to see the scenes of suicide bombings in Israel, to help identify the bombers. What I saw I will never forget.”
In the nearly-2-hour-long discussion, Yousef talked about his deep-seated anger at Hamas and the Islamic world in general, for what he sees as a fundamental failing in the culture — a religious compulsion to sacrifice its children in order to “further financial and political gain.”
“It’s a brutal culture,” he said. “My own father sent me out as a child to throw stones at Israelis. That was how we had to prove ourselves. We were indoctrinated to do this. And I did. I was raised to hate Jews and to hate Israel. For what? For nothing. People here in the West, some of them encourage this and say that it is virtuous. It is not. That is how people are killed, by stoning. A car with a mother and her children, traveling at 50 kilometers an hour, and we would throw stones at it, terrifying them and hurting or killing them? This is barbaric. Savages throw stones.”
Yousef is often a very fiery orator when confronting “Pro-Palestinians” on his many television appearances on programs like Piers Morgan Uncensored, where he exchanged barbs with The Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur, whom he referred to as a “liar,” “bottom-feeder, “parasite,” and “scumbag” in an appearance shortly after the death of Yahya Sinwar just a few days ago.
Last night, however, his demeanor was anything but. He was soft-spoken, introspective, and deeply empathetic towards the Jewish state, as well as the Jews filling the synagogue who had come to hear what he had to say. His moving stories of the brutality he witnessed growing up — committed by Hamas against Palestinians — clearly left deep scars within him and resonated strongly with the audience. Numerous times as he spoke, audience members could be seen dabbing their eyes with tissues and handkerchiefs.
“My own father,” he said. “I saved his life many times. Only for him to try to sacrifice me as a martyr? I could not do this anymore. I could not support this. I had to take a stance. This culture is sick,” he said, referring to his Palestinian upbringing. “Where they do honor killings. Where women are treated like cattle, and where children are raised to be sacrificed.”
Amir Eden, former IDF soldier and Director of FIDF, interviews Mosab Yousef, the son of one of the founders of Hamas. Credit: David Flomberg
In Yousef’s view, the entire Palestinian nationalist identity itself is a farce, and he was unhesitant to share this position. He spoke about his re-entry into public life since the Hamas incursion last year. “I had been living a quiet life. I was on an island in Southeast Asia when the news came. At first, I reacted sarcastically, I’m almost embarrassed to say. Paragliders? I didn’t believe it. But then more news came. And all of the media contacting me. I had to come back. I have a responsibility to the Jewish people and to Palestinian children I know Hamas would sacrifice. The Palestinians are anti-life. If they were to succeed in destroying Israel, they will go after everyone else. It is tribe against humanity. The Jewish people have never let me down. My girlfriend lost 100 people she knew on Oct. 7. So many close, personal friends.”
His voice cracked when he spoke about viewing the 47-minute long compilation of the footage Hamas terrorists recorded themselves throughout the attack that was shown to some media by the IDF later. And then, when he traveled back to Israel in recent months, he saw more that hasn’t been released.
“The brutality was unbelievable. Raping. Beheading.” Viewing the footage, touring the tunnels, talking with IDF soldiers, and meeting with the families of the victims of the attack has clearly only deepened his resolve.
“We will win this war. Many Hamas and Hezbollah leaders are dead now. More will soon join them.”
But that is the war of violence and survival, and there is a second one that looms larger and concerns him.
“This is a war of narratives. It’s been their strategy since the beginning,” he said. “And many around the world believe their lies.
“The entire Palestinian foundation is a lie. We need to destroy this delusion that they are their own ethnic group. They have no claim to this land. There is no genocide by Israel. It is a war. Oct. 7 was a genocide. The Palestinians have been sacrificing their own children for 70 years. Palestine is the colonial entity. They cannot prove their legitimacy over the land. The Jews can. They have been there for hundreds of years before Muslims even existed.”
It’s fair to note that Yousef’s anti-Muslim bigotry is well-documented over the years, and it’s something he expresses unapologetically.
Yousef is on record calling Islam “the world’s most dangerous religion.” In a 2012 interview with The Times of Israel, he said, “Islam is not a religion of peace. It’s a religion of war. Muslims don’t even know the true nature of their own religion.” He shared a video on X last December in which he said, “If I had to choose between 1.6 billion Muslims and a cow, I would choose the cow.” He later clarified that statement at an appearance on the campus of the University of California, San Diego last May, as reported by the student newspaper The Guardian: “’I said if I had to choose between the cow and 2 billion people who are aggressive, who are violent, who are out to dominate the world, who have been oppressing a religious minority, then I choose the cow. The cow is more significant to me. But, I did not ask for their slaughter. I did not incite against them. They cannot even find the word.’ He said. Then, Yousef elaborated on how the cow is a symbol of peace and love, and how ‘hundreds of millions of people can learn from the cow.‘”
It’s clear the axe Yousef is carrying to grind is sizable. Yet, as he dove into his perception of the ongoing “war of narratives” Monday night, he drifted from that controversial rhetoric many call “Islamophobic” towards something a bit more nuanced.
Eden asked him to provide his thoughts on what’s happening on college campuses in the U.S. now. “It’s a good quality to be against war. I have no problem with that ideal. But there must be some control. To attack the Jews is wrong. But we must remember that these are students who have been manipulated. They are the sheep, and I’m against the wolves manipulating the students.”
Nonetheless, he remains undaunted.
“The truth will prevail. Defeat is an orphan. Victory has many parents. Eventually, the world will see the truth, and we will win.”
