BBC interview with Hassan Yousef's son prior to his book launch

March 3, 2010 2:40 PM

'Son of Hamas' who spied for Israel
posted by Neekee (16 comments total)

If that guy is for real, he's painting a target on his own chest.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 2:55 PM on March 3, 2010

Way to get back at Dad, dude!
posted by longsleeves at 3:12 PM on March 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

Wow. I am overwhelmed. I hope this is what it looks like.

There is a lot of blame to go around, on both sides, for what is happening in Israel/Palestine. It takes a lot of guts to confront both sides.

Christian or not, he deserves prayers and protection.
posted by Xoebe at 3:14 PM on March 3, 2010

There are numerous heartbreaking stories of gay Palestinians needing to seek refuge in Israel to escape torture and death at the hands of the the Palestinian Authority.
posted by jeffburdges at 3:24 PM on March 3, 2010

The interviewer was almost completely useless. Her questions reveal some idiotic story in her head about what she thinks is happening: "is your dad a terrorist?"; she thinks that this guy is choosing sides.

I liked his final declaration of morality as internally-derived.
posted by esprit de l'escalier at 3:26 PM on March 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's tempting to try to find meaning in fringe cases such as this one, or the Jewish man who became an Islamic fundamentalist and repudiates Israel. However in my experience, this usually has everything to do with the personal journey of the person involved and sheds very little light on the actual conflict.
posted by cell divide at 4:46 PM on March 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

weak post. you could have at least linked to his book.
posted by jcruelty at 4:54 PM on March 3, 2010

ten bucks says there is a significant part of this story we haven't been told (by him). my money is on his sexuality.
posted by krautland at 5:13 PM on March 3, 2010

jeffburdges: "There are numerous heartbreaking stories of gay Palestinians needing to seek refuge in Israel to escape torture and death at the hands of the the Palestinian Authority."

And that's saying something, given how common and accepted homophobia is in Israel, even in government.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 6:14 PM on March 3, 2010

There are numerous heartbreaking stories of gay Palestinians needing to seek refuge in Israel to escape torture and death at the hands of the the Palestinian Authority.

Think about this. A gay Palestinian wouldn't be much of a spy, would he? You want someone who would not draw suspicion - any suspicion - to himself.

There is no meaning to spying - neither is there any morality. The spy turns coat on his friends and is exploited by the other side who does not give a hoot about him, but only what he can do for them.

What this shows is that despite all of the mystique enshrouding the Mossad and Shin Bet, their real success comes from something as simple as turning highly placed people. And this Palestinian probably thinks Shin Bet was wrapped around his finger, doing his bidding. Three stooges in one this guy.

Christian or not, he deserves prayers and protection.

Why?
posted by three blind mice at 7:39 PM on March 3, 2010

What this shows is that despite all of the mystique enshrouding the Mossad and Shin Bet, their real success comes from something as simple as turning highly placed people.

No... shit...?
posted by Cyrano at 9:00 PM on March 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's tempting to try to find meaning in fringe cases such as this one, or the Jewish man who became an Islamic fundamentalist and repudiates Israel. However in my experience, this usually has everything to do with the personal journey of the person involved and sheds very little light on the actual conflict.

I want to ask you honestly: Do you expect the conflict to end one day? How do you see it ending?

if you view the conflict as a tug-of-war between Israeli colonialism and Palestinian extremism, then I don't see any end to the conflict. There are limitless extremists and tyrants for as long as their ideology survives unchallenged.

If I were to bet on how the IP will end, it would be by the gradual, but collective realization of liberalism (and its application in the form of resolution of injustice) as described by John Gray (via wikipedia):

...the common strands in liberal thought [are] individualist, egalitarian, meliorist, and universalist. The individualist element avers the ethical primacy of the human being against the pressures of social collectivism, the egalitarian element assigns the same moral worth and status to all individuals, the meliorist element asserts that successive generations can improve their sociopolitical arrangements, and the universalist element affirms the moral unity of the human species and marginalizes local cultural differences.

Why would he go public? Is it in Shin Bet's interests? His interests? Clearly neither. I think it's as he said, "this is the first time we hear that a Hamas member is saving Israeli lives." His purpose was the declaration of the primal value of human life.

Call him a stooge if you want, but I think he's a hero of Truth. And, I pray for similar unsung heros in the Israeli military sparing the lives of the so-called "other side."
posted by esprit de l'escalier at 12:29 AM on March 4, 2010

I get the impression that it is common for double-agent (and triple etc) spies to lose track and become confused about whose side they are on, until realizing that they really are just on their own side. I speculate that he became Christian because it is a religion similar to both Islam and Judaism, yet neither (keeping him from having to choose sides).
posted by molecicco at 4:46 AM on March 4, 2010

So many gods, so little time.
posted by gman at 4:57 AM on March 4, 2010

"Call him a stooge if you want"

I'll call him a stooge on timing. In a week when Mossad has dragged Israel's diplomatic reputation through the mud and a key spy ring in Lebanon has been broken up, there's nothing like a bit of cheering news to deflect attention.

Also, his claim that he "stopped then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from killing several key Hamas members" seems somewhat far fetched. The only real reason I could think of the security services holding back would be to not reveal that they had a high level mole.

Israel-Palestine aside, it is always slightly odd that spy agencies laud their moles, but when their citizens turn to the other side only the harshest possible penalties will do.
posted by MuffinMan at 7:06 AM on March 4, 2010

"I learned it from you, alright, Dad!? I learned it from watching you!!"

(Wish I could claim to have thought of that myself, but I found it on a Fark trail on this same topic. Best zinger I ever saw on that site.)
posted by scaryblackdeath at 2:19 PM on March 4, 2010