How Many Ayman Abu Aita's are there in Beit Sahour?

So Sacha Baron Cohen is being sued again. This time the plaintiff is not an entire country or a bunch of frat boys, but a Palestinian Christian named Ayman Abu Aita from Beit Sahour in the West Bank, near Bethlehem. Apparently he was labeled as "terrorist group leader al-aqsa martyrs brigade" in the Bruno movie.

In his complaint (scroll down), the following is said about Ayman Abu Aita:

In the top left corner, it gives his residence as Beit Sahour, Bethlehem, West Bank Palestine.

In the first part (Part I) Parties section of the complaint, it says:

That your plaintiff, viz., AYMAN ABU AITA, is a natural adult person, of Palestinian nationality, whom, at all times relevant herein, has been, and is presently domiciled in the village of Beit Sahour, West Bank, in the territory known as Palestine, supporting his wife and four children as a grocer, and is also a Board Member, as well as the Treasurer, of the Holy Land Trust, a charitable organization committed to promoting peace and reconciliation among Israelis and Palestinians, of all religious faiths, with your plaintiff being a Christian and member of congregant of the Greek Orthodox Church;

In the FACTUAL AVERMENTS section, it goes on to describe the Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade's designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (X-XIV), and says

XV.

That, as adverted to above, your plaintiff is a peace-loving person who abhors violence, and, prior to the publication and republication of the calumnies complained of herein, enjoyed a good reputation for honesty and a peaceable nature throughout his community in Bethlehem, as well as amongst his numerous relatives, friends and associates in the United States;

However, take a look at this article by Allan Sorensen from December 2006 (via Google Translate; I certainly can't read Danish) in Kristeligt Dagblad, which roughly translates to Christian Daily News.

This is the important part of the article. The original Danish is in italics.

Men det er kun den ene side af sagen, mener den 41-årige kristne palæstinenser Ayman abu Aita fra Bet Sahour. But it is only one side of the case, believes the 41-year-old Christian Palestinian Ayman Abu Aita of Bet Sahour. Han tilhører en hård kerne af kristne, der anser denne udlægning af situationen som vestlig propaganda. He belongs to a hard core of Christians who consider this interpretation of the situation as western propaganda. Og han bliver sur, når han hører påstande om, at de kristne i Betlehem-området ikke tager del i kampen mod Israel. And he gets angry when he hears allegations that Christians in the Bethlehem area does not take part in the struggle against Israel.



Ayman abu Aita har for længst droppet det kristne begreb om at vende den anden kind til. Ayman Abu Aita has long since abandoned the Christian concept of turning the other cheek. Han tror ikke, at palæstinenserne kan få deres egen selvstændige stat uden at bekæmpe Israel med vold. He does not believe that Palestinians can have their own independent state without fighting Israel with violence. Hans venner er både kristne og muslimer, og hans liv er en dramatisk fortælling om, hvordan hans kristne tro og billedet af Jesus på væggen i stuen ikke forhindrer ham i at være aktivist i en af de palæstinensiske bevægelser, der fører en væbnet og blodig kamp mod den israelske besættelse. His friends, both Christians and Muslims, and his life is a dramatic story about how his Christian faith and the image of Jesus on the wall in the room did not prevent him from being an activist in the Palestinian movement, leading an armed and bloody struggle against the Israeli occupation.

The article goes on to say that he spent two years in an Israeli prison.

So, the question is: How many Christian Palestinians are there from Beit Sahour named Ayman Abu Aita?'

Now, to be fair, Beit Sahour did have 12,367 residents according to the 2007 Palestinian Census, and it happens to be one of a tiny, tiny number of municipalities which still have a Christian majority (80%).

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find the suing Abu Aita's age; if they matched, that would greatly narrow things down.

I also have to note that the "Holy Land Trust" (which as far as I can tell, is legit, not to be confused with the terror-funding "Holy Land Foundation") gives his name as "Ayman Matya Jabra Abu Eita"

A search for this name leads to a book by the generally nutty Aaron Klein of WorldNetDaily.

In the Google Books preview, Klein says

A few weeks after 2006 Christmas celebrations, I returned to Bethlehem and met with Ayman Abu Eita, who was chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist group in Beit Sahur from 2001 until at least 2006. ... Abu Eita wants me to introduce him as the main representative of PA President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party in Beit Sahour.

Further searching gives a Greek Orthodox school in Beit Sahour, and lists a student as "Woroud Ayman Matia Abu-Eita", whose father is named Ayman; note again as above that the Holy Land Trust/Bruno Ayman Abu-Eita had "Matya" in his full long name.

For sites opposite to, but equally as nutty as Mr. Klein, if not more so.


"palcast.org" again refers to "Ayman Abu Eita" as being held for several years in Israeli prison

So I'd say that even if there are two or more Ayman Abu Aita's in Beit Sahour, Baron Cohen et. al have a mistaken identity-based defense. If not, they have the unvarnished truth as a defense; the truth can never be slander or libel.