Palestinian Sues UK Comedian for "Bruno" Slur

posted on: Aug 13, 2009

A Palestinian man who previously vowed to sue British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for presenting him as a “terrorist” in his hit movie Bruno has put his words to action and on Monday filed a lawsuit.

Ayman Abu Aita told Al Arabiya he was swindled when Cohen pretended to be a German journalist filming a documentary about Palestine.

Aita filed a lawsuit demanding that the scene in which he appears is removed because it stereotypes an entire people and that the movie is censored.

“This scene is not only about me. It concerns the entire Palestinian people. I also demand compensation because he insulted us.”

“I met him at Everest Hotel in Beit Jala,” Aita told Al Arabiya. “I asked the crew about the movie and they told me it aims at communicating the Palestinian cause to youths around the world. I trusted them and Cohen interviewed me for two hours and a half.”

Aita added Cohen’s questions were “normal” and did not indicate any foul play. However at the end of the interview Aita was taken by surprise when Cohen asks to be kidnapped.

During his interview with Abu Aita, Cohen asks to be kidnapped and suggests he and his colleagues shave their beards because “your king Osama looks like some king of dirty wizard or a homeless Santa,” referring to Osama Bin Laden.

“I told him that we are a civilized people and not terrorists,” Aita replied.

Aita decided to sue Cohen after a scene in the movie portrayed him as a leader of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, one Palestinian faction group. Cohen also said he has been coordinating with the CIA for three years to meet this “terrorist.”

Cohen’s films have generated a string of lawsuits from unwitting victims hoodwinked by the comedian.

But Aita also accused Cohen of propagating lies, claiming that Aita was armed and accompanied by armed men and that they met in a deserted place.

“If I had been armed, this would have been obvious in the interview. I had only two men with me, one was American and the other is a journalist, and we met in a well-known hotel,” Aita said.

But what revealed Cohen’s lies, said Aita, was the fact that Cohen missed an important fact, mainly that it was impossible for Aita to be an Islamist “terrorist” supporting al-Qaeda since he was Christian.

“He did not know that I am Christian” Aita clarified.

Aita, who comes from the town of Beit Sahour east of Bethlehem, spent around nine years in Israeli jails on charges of affiliation to Fatah. His house was demolished in the 1980s and he is now a political activist.

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Al Arabiya