EXCLUSIVE
JERUSALEM: The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the terrorist group depicted in the film “Bruno,” is “very upset” their group’s namesake and former member was featured in a film about a homosexual character that includes graphic depictions of homosexual sex.
The group, as well as individual members, released a statement to WND’s Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein that includes a veiled threat against the movie’s star, Sacha Baron Cohen:
“We reserve the right to respond in the way we find suitable against this man (Cohen)” said the statement.
“This movie was part of a conspiracy against the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,” continued the statement, released through a senior member of the group in the West Bank.
“According to what we checked there was no meeting about the real context of the film. This was a dirty use of our brother, Aiman, and we don’t accept that the name of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is part of the film.”
Aiman is a reference to Ayman Abu Aita, who was interviewed in the movie “Bruno” and labeled as a “terrorist leader” from the Brigades division in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Aita told Klein yesterday the movie mislabels him and that Cohen conducted the interview under false pretenses. Aita said he is pursuing legal action against Cohen.
The Brigades statement claimed that “Aiman is part of the political level of Fatah in Bethlehem, part of the leadership of the political apparatus of Fatah. He is not a member of the Brigades.”
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is the declared military wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas‘ U.S.-backed Fatah party. The Brigades is responsible for scores of suicide bombings, shootings and deadly rocket attacks against Israeli civilian population centers.
Several Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leaders responded to the use of their group in the “Bruno” movie.
Abu Philistine, the current leader of the Brigades in Aita’s hometown of Bethlehem, told WND, “This was a trick against Aiman. We don’t want to be part of this movie”
Jihad Jaara, the infamous exiled chief of the Brigades in Bethlehem, called Cohen “not funny” and said his film was “stupid.”
“I’d like to tell Cohen if you like to be funny you are not. You showed the world how stupid is this film,” Jaara told WND. “We don’t need for him to show us to the world in a homosexual film. That made us very angry at him.”
Continued Jaara: “If he wants to make a real film, then come to the Palestinian territories and see how children are dying every day at the hands of the Israeli occupation.
“I heard about this film and I felt very shamed when I heard about it,” added Jaara.
Jaara was the notorious director of the 2002 siege of Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity who served as the Bethlehem-area chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist organization during that time.
Many senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leaders were granted amnesty by Israel in 2007 in an American-brokered gesture to bolster Abbas. The group, therefore, could not release an official pamphlet against the movie since the Brigades has not been releasing pamphlets. Also, some Brigades leaders warned that Abbas’ Fatah party may try to distance itself publicly from the statements against Cohen.
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