IU postpones event featuring Palestinian supporter of Israel

This story has been updated.

Citing unspecified security concerns, Indiana University is asking a campus Jewish center to postpone an event featuring a Palestinian speaker.

Mosab Hassan Yousef, a former informant for Israeli security agencies and relative of one of Hamas’s co-founders, was to headline the IU Hillel event.

Mosab is a convert to Christianity who regularly criticizes Islam and Muslims. He also works with the Israeli government to counter criticism of its military.

Read more: IU Eskenazi art museum cancels Palestinian artist's exhibition

“In response to credible security information that raises concerns for the safety of speakers and attendees, IU has regretfully asked Hillel to postpone Tuesday evening’s event at Wilkinson Hall,” IU spokesperson Mark Bode wrote in an emailed statement.

“As outlined in the university’s free speech policy, IU expects civility and respect between members of our campus community, as well as those visiting,” Bode said.  “IU, as a public research university, must serve as a home for the free exchange of ideas while simultaneously ensuring the safety of all members of our campus community.”

Reacting to the decision, Yousef blamed Muslims and white supremacist groups.

“This is how the Muslim minority in America exploits freedoms to intimidate and silence their political opponents,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

He added: “What will happen if they become a majority?”

In his post, Yousef said the Chicago and Midwest offices of the FBI had identified “serious and credible security issues” related to the event. 

The FBI office in Indianapolis declined to confirm Yousef's account. 

"Thank you for your inquiry. The FBI has no comment. I would refer you to Indiana University for any further information," spokesperson Chris Bavender said. 

Read more: IU suspends professor after Palestine event, faculty say IU broke procedure

Reached by phone, Rabbi Sue Laikin Silberberg, executive director of the Hillel center, declined to answer questions about the event.

“We have no information at this time,” she said several times.

Before IU postponed the event, set for Tuesday, Palestinian students and supporters on campus accused the university of having a double standard for Palestinian speech.

The group IU Academics for Justice in Palestine, using the hashtag “#CampusOfHypocrisy” on social media, called the event “just the latest in the administration’s despicable record of silencing voices” critical of Israel’s ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip.

In December, the university canceled a Palestinian artist exhibition, also citing unspecified security concerns.

The exhibition by Samia Halaby was set to run for three months at the Eskenazi Museum of Art, which is on IU’s Bloomington campus.

The move drew criticism from free speech and pro-Palestinian groups.

A month later, the university suspended a Palestinian-American professor after he hosted an Israeli speaker who advocates for Palestinian rights.

Abdulkader Sinno, associate professor of political science and Middle Eastern studies, remains suspended from teaching for two semesters.

The university said at the time that Sinno violated room reservation policies.

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Yousef, the eldest son of Hamas co-founder Hasan Yousef, is from the occupied West Bank.

He became an informant for Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency before moving to the United States, where he was granted asylum.

Yousef is now a representative for an Israeli government initiative to counter critical reporting of its ongoing operations in the Gaza Strip.

Last month, he toured areas around Gaza where Palestinian militants launched a major attack that killed over 1,000 Israelis, including hundreds of civilians, last fall.

The Israeli military has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, mostly civilians, in Gaza and the West Bank since the October attack.

In recent months, Yousef has posted numerous Islamaphobic statements on social media, often comparing Muslims to animals or violent crusaders.

“Never trust anyone who identifies as a Muslim, they may appear as a harmless sheep when they are alone, but when they are in the pack, they will begin to show their tusks,” he wrote in December. “I have zero respect for any individual who identifies as a Muslim.”

Another post that month said Muslims were on the “bottom rung” of world religions.