Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef

Book description:

Since he was a small boy, Mosab Hassan Yousef has had an inside view of the deadly terrorist group Hamas. The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status . . . and power. But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence, and embraced instead the teachings of another famous Middle East leader. In Son of Hamas, Mosab Yousef—now called “Joseph”—reveals new information about the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization and unveils the truth about his own role, his agonizing separation from family and homeland, the dangerous decision to make his newfound faith public, and his belief that the Christian mandate to “love your enemies” is the only way to peace in the Middle East.
 
My review:
I honestly cannot remember reading a more interesting and gripping non-fiction book. This one gets my "read-in-one-sitting" status, for that is exactly what I did. The story is well written, and is a fascinating tale. I learned a lot about Islam, the Hamas, the conflict between Isreal and the Palestinians, and a lot more.
 
The most amazing part of the story is not that Mosab became an agent working with the Isrealis against Hamas, an organization his own father helped to start, but that in spite of his strict Islamic upbringing, that God reached down and changed him from a son of Hamas to a follower of Jesus Christ.
 
Though my normal genre' is Christian fiction, and my favorite is suspense/mystery, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it. It will be worth your time.
 
About the author:

Mosab Hassan Yousef was born in Ramallah, in the Palestinian West Bank, in 1978. His father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, is a founding leader of Hamas, internationally recognized as a terrorist organization and responsible for countless suicide bombings and other deadly attacks against Israel. Yousef was an integral part of the movement, for which he was imprisoned several times by the Shin Bet, the Israeli intelligence service. He withstood torture in prison only to discover Hamas was torturing its own people in a relentless search for collaborators. He began to question who his enemies really were—Israel? Hamas? America?


While in an Israeli prison, Yousef was approached about becoming a spy for the Shin Bet. Initially, Yousef accepted the offer with the idea that he would betray them, and in hopes he could use the role to protect his father and family. Later, as Yousef saw the hypocrisy within Hamas and became a Christian, he used the position to save lives on both sides of the conflict. Yousef worked as a double agent within Hamas for nearly 10 years. He became a vital intelligence asset for the Israeli government while serving side-by-side with his father within the upper ranks of Hamas. After a chance encounter with a British tourist, Yousef started a six-year quest that jeopardized Hamas, endangered his family, and threatened his life. He has since embraced the Christian faith and sought political asylum in America. His story was revealed in the 2008 Fox News documentary "Escape from Hamas."

Yousef 's first book, Son of Hamas, written with Ron Brackin (SaltRiver), released March 2, 2010. In Son of Hamas, Yousef reveals new information about this dangerous terrorist organization and unveils the truth behind his own secret role. He describes his surreal journey to a new faith that instructed him to love his enemies. And he tells the story of the agonizing decisions that led him to walk away from his family, friends, and homeland. For blog updates from Yousef, visit http://www.sonofhamas.com/.

Son of Hamas is available from Saltriver Publishing, an imprint of Tyndale Publishing.

Thanks to Tyndale for the review copy.

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