The son of Hamas’ co-founder expressed shock and dismay at the university protesters, whom he believes are “misguided” and “misinformed” about the issues.
“They have found a reason to be angry. It is very dangerous to defend something they do not understand,” Mosab Hassan Yousef, known as the “Green Prince,” said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “They are not making the situation better. They are only making it worse.”
Yousef was speaking in Manhattan. Jerusalem Post New York ConferenceSheikh Hassan Yousef is the eldest son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef. He defected to Israel in 1997 and worked as an undercover agent for 10 years before moving to the United States. He previously told Fox News host Sean Hannity that Hamas would “not hesitate to kill” him if they found him.
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Mosab Hassan Yousef speaks at the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York City in June 2024. (Mark Israel Sellem)
He calls the terrorist group a religious movement “waging a holy war” disguised as a political party, and he has not hesitated to criticize the group after some in the United States responded after the October 7 attacks by protesting on college campuses and pressuring Congress to stop the group’s actions in Gaza before Hamas is removed.
“If you give in to terrorists, there are consequences,” Yousef said. “We are sending the wrong message. These people are not taking our statements and actions as an open-minded attitude on our part to achieve peace. They are taking it as weakness.”
“The longer we continue to send the wrong message, the more complicated the situation will become,” he added. “We must stand firm. … Hamas is designated a terrorist organization in the United States by U.S. law, so it is absurd for lawmakers to be unable to distinguish this organization.”
Hamas elected leader Yahya Sinwar (center) attends a ceremony for fighters killed in an Israeli airstrike at Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, May 24, 2021. (Laurent van der Stock/Getty Images)
“What they’re doing is very dangerous,” he argued. “This is not a political issue. This is a fundamental issue.”
Some have argued that the group’s brutal attacks since October 7 were a “legitimate” act of defense against the treatment of the Palestinian people. Some have called the Gaza Strip “the world’s largest open air prison,” while others have said that Palestinians had no choice but to act through Hamas.
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Yousef denied such claims, pointing out that Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip almost 20 years ago and that during that time Hamas ruled with an iron fist amid a succession of weakened governments.
“Gaza was blockaded not only by Israel but also by Egypt and other international forces because Hamas would not lay down its guns and recognize Israel’s right to exist,” Yousef explained. “The only reason for the blockade was a security blockade. It had nothing to do with race or nationalism.”
A 2006 photograph shows Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef speaking at a rally of the movement in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (Abas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)
“There is everything wrong with this group,” Yousef said. “There is nothing good or righteous about Hamas. They have adopted murder, destruction and violence as the only means to achieve their political and religious aims.”
“So what does Hamas do well? Killing indiscriminately? Killing Palestinians? Killing Arabs, Jews and Americans?” he asked. “They have blood on their hands. They have used violence as their only strategy since the beginning of the movement, and now they have added genocide to that violence. So what is not clear about Hamas?”
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The passenger who accosted Adams accused him of leaving the state while anti-Israel activists were being arrested by police at Columbia University in recent days. (Peter Gerber)
Yousef spoke alongside Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, who told Fox News Digital that protesters were “weaponizing” the First Amendment to “call for genocide and mass murder against a community in the United States, in this case the Jewish community.”
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Mosab Hassan Yousef and Dan Diqer spoke at the Jerusalem Post conference in Manhattan in June 2024. (Mark Israel Sellem)
“President Biden and other lawmakers and administration officials have a duty not only to enact and enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but also to hold the finest men and women in higher education in this country, in the greatest higher education system in the world, accountable to a code of conduct,” Duiker said.
“Failure to do so has exposed and will continue to expose Jewish students and other friends of our Jewish and democratic nation to great physical danger on our campuses, something I am certain the president absolutely does not want to happen.”
