Palestinian Donkeys that have Kinship to London !!!

This story happened more than 70 or 80 years ago, in the Galilee Heights, during the British occupation “Mandate” to Palestine, a long time before we had the “honor” to host our “cousins’ the jews. There, in one of the Galilee villages, there was a Palestinian peasant who had a stubborn donkey. Both, the peasant and his donkey, lived peacefully ploughing the fields and eat from their land of “honey and milk”.

One day, while they were ploughing the field as usual, the donkey stopped to go on, refused to cooperate with his friend and owner. The farmer begged him to continue, to finish the field, otherwise they both wouldst have enough to eat, but the donkey didn’t listen and kept stubbornly standing, refusing to take any further step that would bridge the gap between the “two parties”.

The farmer got angry and threatened the donkey, but the donkey insisted on his point of view and rejected all of the farmer’s promises of “peace” and “prosperous future”. Then the farmer got very angry and started beating the poor animal, but there was no sign of “future agreement” between the “two parties”. The farmer got harsher and kept battering the “terrorist” donkey who refused all the “peace” offers.

For the donkey’s luck, a British troop was passing by and saw the fight. The British soldiers felt pity for the poor donkey and approached yelling at the farmer. Another fight started and the soldiers battered the farmer badly for his “inhuman” treatment of the donkey, and went on in their way. The farmer, frustrated and angry of both the donkey and the soldiers, started beating the donkey again yelling at him: “Why didn’t you tell me you have relatives in London?”

The story, just like history, does repeat itself again, but this time in a brand-new postmodern way; well-organized in a kind of “charity” with constitution, colorful papers and handouts, computerized statistics and sharp stuff !!!

Two months ago, a friend of mine (who is the chief of the local council of a neighboring village) asked me if I can meet a European delegate of “Animals Rights” charity and guide them through the village. I apologized telling him that I really don’t have time for such animals, sorry benevolent humans !!!

Later, my friend asked me to design and write a gratitude certificate (a paper that looks like a University Certificate but has both the local council’s and the Charity’s logos on it) in order for him to send it to that “humanitarian” (but animalistic) Charity !!!

He explained to me how they came; a huge delegate with 4-wheels jeeps, equipments, medicine and donkeys’ luxury stuff !!! They were professionals on Donkeys and only serve the “Donkeys (Human) Rights”… they took a tour around the village to visit their “kins” of the Donkeys, they healed some sick donkeys, and had a good impression of how we (the primitives) deal with their “relatives”, the humans !!!!

I just wonder, in God’s sake, how many zionist checkpoints they passed to reach this remote village? How many walls and borders they crossed to take care of their “relatives”? Didn’t they see how the Palestinians are treated like donkeys (apology for the donkeys) under the zionist occupation, how they are captured in the zoo of Gaza? Why, the donkeys have “Human Rights” while the Palestinians still (after 100 years of both the British and the Zionist occupation) deprived from the basic “Donkeys Rights”?

Probably we, bedouins, are not donkeys lovers because we are more camel-oriented. Bedouins, not only care about animals, but really love them because they are an essential part of our daily life. We care for them in the hot summer, in the cold winter, feed them, name everyone of them and name the new born babies as if of our kins … we love them and kiss them like our beloved children… But I personally care more about my people !!

Photo by: Selmy Sawarkeh

However, I am not sure if the next Palestinian elections will witness the right for the Donkeys to vote or even compete for presidency, but what I am certain of is that the next Palestinian president (according to the West electoral standards) will be a Donkey that has kinship to London !!! Praised be the Almighty Donkeys that have kinship to London !!!

Sami, the Bedouin.