Mosab Yousef, whose father was among the founders of Hamas, was a Shin Bet spy for ten years. Along the way, he also converted to Christianity, having been moved by the notion of loving ones enemies.
While the obvious Oedipal questions arise – a son’s need to overthrow his powerful father and make his own way on the world, as do questions about how many of us would feel if the son of a high-ranking Israeli had been spying for Hamas, this story rises above those questions.

This is a story of the self-defeating nature of brutality, not the betrayal of the Palestinian cause which Yousef still supports. In reading Mosab Yousef’s comments to CNN, one is struck by the fact that he still regards Israel as an enemy. He simply came to see that Hamas was far worse. Why? Because of the brutality they practice against their own people, because of their failure to distinguish between civilian and military targets and how those things cause what he Yousef calls “spiritual and soul death”.
This is not simply a story of “one man’s hero is another man’s traitor”. This is a story about the real differences between two cultures at war with each other. By no means is either side free from blame about the continued suffering on both sides of the conflict. And the continued positioning by each side to paint themselves as blameless will only prolong that suffering.
This is a story about the ways in which brutal, rage-driven, repressive regimes ultimately betray themselves, driving out their own best and brightest. One need not support Israel to stand with Mosab Yousef against that kind of regime. One need not leave Islam to do so, even though Yousef felt compelled to do so. One simply needs to admit that the ends do not justify the means in all cases. A lesson which Hamas has yet to learn.