“Hamas is literally a cult of death.”

This is 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 told in the documentary 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 Yousefone of the co-founders and current leaders of the terrorist organization that infiltrated Israel on October 7, 2023, slaughtering 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, triggering a war that has now lasted more than a year. It was the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

Mosab, the eldest of eight siblings, was raised with the expectation that he would one day succeed his father in Hamas. Instead, after serving time in an Israeli prison in the mid-1990s and testifying about the brutality that Hamas militants visited upon other Palestinians in custody, he eventually turned 180. degrees to hate the violent and brutal regime he was prepared to lead. Yousef went on to join Shin Bet as an informant, where he worked to provide information on suicide bombings committed during the first two intifadas for more than a decade.

“My only rule was just to help save lives and not hurt anybody,” he said, recounting his experiences to a crowd of more than 300 people in the Sinai chapel. The crowd gave him a standing ovation before he even said a word. His interviewer was Amir Eden, former IDF soldier and director of Friends of the IDF non-profit chapters in Colorado and Nevada, which hosted the event.

Attendees at Monday’s event at Temple Sinai watch a video about the non-profit organization FIDF. Credit: David Flomberg

“And for 10 years I did that. I was the first to see the scenes of the suicide bombings in Israel to help identify the attackers. I will never forget what I saw.”

In the nearly two-hour discussion, Yousef spoke of his deep-seated anger at Hamas and the Islamic world in general for what he sees as a fundamental failure of the culture — a religious compulsion to sacrifice one’s children to ” I continue to win financially and politically”.

“It’s a brutal culture,” he said. “My own father sent me as a child to throw stones at the Israelis. That’s how we had to prove ourselves. We were indoctrinated to do that. And I did it. 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 it is virtuous. It is not. This is how people are killed, by stoning. A car with a mother and her children, going 50 kilometers an hour, and we were throwing rocks at it, scaring them and injuring or killing them? This is barbaric. Savages throw stones.”

Yousef is often a very fiery orator when confronting “pro-Palestinians” in his many television appearances on programs such as Piers Morgan uncensoredwhere he exchanged barbs with The Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur, whom he called a “liar,” “bottom feeder, “parasite” and “scumbag” in an appearance shortly after Yahya Sinwar’s death just days ago.

Last night, however, his behavior was anything but. He was gentle, introspective, and deeply empathetic toward the Jewish state as well as the Jews who filled the synagogue who had come to hear what he had to say. His harrowing stories of the brutality he witnessed growing up—perpetrated by Hamas against the Palestinians—clearly scarred him deeply and resonated strongly with audiences. Many 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. Just for him to try to sacrifice me as a martyr? I couldn’t do this anymore. I couldn’t stand it. I had to take a stand. 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 slaughtered.”

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 reluctant to share this position. He spoke about his re-entry into public life since the Hamas incursion last year. “I was living a quiet life. I was on an island in Southeast Asia when the news came. At first, I reacted sarcastically, I’m almost ashamed to say. Paragliding? I didn’t believe it. But then came more news. And all the media that contact me. I had to go back. I have a responsibility to the Jewish people and to the Palestinian children whom I know Hamas would sacrifice. Palestinians are against life. If they succeed in destroying Israel, they will go after everyone else. It is a tribe against humanity. The Jewish people have never let me down. My friend lost 100 people she knew on October 7th. So many close, personal friends.”

His voice cracked as he spoke of watching the 47-minute compilation of footage Hamas terrorists recorded during the attack, which was later shown to media by the IDF. And then, when he traveled back to Israel in recent months, he saw more that hadn’t been released.

“The brutality was unbelievable. The rape. Beheading.” Watching the footage, touring the tunnels, talking to IDF soldiers and meeting the families of the attack’s victims only deepened his resolve.

“We will win this war. Many Hamas and Hezbollah leaders are dead now. More will join them soon.”

But this is the war of violence and survival, and there is a second one that looms larger and preoccupies it.

“This is a war of narratives. It was their strategy from the beginning,” he said. “And many around the world believe their lies.

“The whole Palestinian foundation is a lie. We must destroy this illusion that they are their own ethnic group. They have no claim on this land. There is no genocide by Israel. It’s a war. October 7 was a genocide. Palestinians have been sacrificing their own children for 70 years. Palestine is the colonial entity. They cannot prove their legitimacy on earth. Jews can. They were there hundreds of years before the Muslims existed.”

It is fair to note that Yousef’s anti-Muslim bigotry has been well documented over the years and is something he expresses unapologetically.

Yousef called Islam “the most dangerous religion in the world.” In a 2012 interview with The Times of Israel, he said“Islam is not a religion of peace. It is a religion of war. Muslims do not 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 this statement at an appearance on the campus of the University of California, San Diego last May, as the student newspaper reports The Guardian: “‘I said if I had to choose between the cow and 2 billion people who are aggressive, who are violent, who want to dominate the world, who have oppressed a religious minority, then I choose the cow. The cow is more meaningful to me. But, I did not ask them to sacrifice. I did not incite against them. I can’t even find the word. he said. Yousef then explained 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 that the ax Yousef carries to grind is considerable. However, as he delved into his perception of the ongoing “narrative war” on Monday night, he steered away from the controversial rhetoric that many are calling “Islamophobic” to something more nuanced.

Eden asked him to offer his thoughts on what’s happening on college campuses across the US right now. “It is a good quality to be against war. I have no problem with that ideal. But there has to be some control. Attacking Jews is wrong. But we have to remember that these are students who have been manipulated. They are the sheep, and I am against the wolves manipulating the students.”

However, he remains undeterred.

“Truth will prevail. Defeat is an orphan. Victory has many parents. In the end, the world will see the truth and we will win.”