This is a true story that took place in the village of Kfarkela in southern Lebanon. It is mentioned in several Lebanese heritage books and is also officially recorded in United Nations documents.
One day in 1962, before the Israeli separation fence was erected along the Lebanese border, a jenny belonging to a village woman wandered into occupied Palestine and disappeared. The woman and her husband, fearing Israeli gunfire, were unable to follow the jenny and decided to abandon it.
A year later, the woman was astonished when her jenny returned home, pulling a cart loaded with peaches and pears, followed by a group of cheering village children. Nevertheless, the joy did not last long.
A few hours later, the Lebanese police arrived, accompanied by the village headman, the mayor, and UNIFIL forces. They went to the woman’s house, demanding that the jenny be handed over to UNIFIL so it could be returned to Israel, claiming it was pregnant with a foal by an Israeli donkey.
The dispute escalated, and tensions rose. The villagers joined in, chanting, “The jenny is ours! It was lost, and now it has returned home!” After hours of negotiations with the Israeli occupation forces, mediated by international parties, an agreement was reached for the jenny to be returned to Israel to give birth, on the condition that the United Nations would return it to the woman after the foal was born.
In the presence of UN forces, an agreement was signed allowing the jenny’s return, on the condition that her foal remain in Israel. Three months later, the jenny escaped from Israel, again without any security coordination, and returned to Kfarkela, pulling the same cart behind her, this time with her young foal running alongside her.
A few hours later, the police, the mayor, the village headman, and a UN force arrived at the village woman’s house. They demanded the implementation of the signed agreement and the handover of the foal to UN forces. To everyone’s surprise, the foal refused to leave its mother, insisted on staying in Lebanon, and resisted surrendering itself to the Lebanese police. In light of the situation and the villagers’ anger, additional police forces were called in and the area was cordoned off. The foal was then taken into custody, tied up, and loaded onto a military truck, before being transported to an observation post in Naqoura in southern Lebanon. That is how the foal was returned, a prisoner, heartbroken, tearful, and separated from its mother, to Israel.
A Palestinian writer added the following to the story - “My aunt’s jenny” story reflects the stubbornness of the Israeli negotiator, who refused to part with a foal whose father was an Israeli donkey and whose mother was a Lebanese jenny. How, then, will this Israeli negotiator concede to the Palestinian negotiator Jerusalem, the West Bank, the skies of Palestine, and Al-Aqsa Mosque, which he claims as the Temple Mount?
How will this Israeli negotiator, who would not give up a foal, relinquish 60 percent of the West Bank, where tens of thousands of homes have been built, housing hundreds of thousands of settlers?
There is a comment from the original narrator of the story, which is one of the most beautiful things I have read, “My aunt’s jenny” story reflects the bitter reality that the Arab nation is going through.
A trick caused a man to lose his shoes
A man entered an inn to rest for a while. He placed his shoes under his head and fell asleep. A short while later, two men entered the inn and sat in a corner. The first said, “Let’s place the stolen gold behind the box and come back later to collect it.”
The second man objected, saying, “The sleeping man might be awake and only pretending to be asleep. If we leave, he may get up and steal the gold.” They decided to pull the shoes from under his head. If he was truly asleep, he would not notice; if he was awake, they would find out.
The man overheard their conversation and pretended to be fast asleep. The two men removed his shoes from under his head, and he, hoping for the gold, did not react. After confirming he was asleep, they placed the gold behind the box. After they left, the man got up to retrieve the gold but found nothing. He realized it had all been a trick to steal his shoes. He then remembered an important lesson - “Never pretend to be asleep in this life, because in the end, you will be the one who loses.”
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The Bedouin’s supplication at the grave of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
A Bedouin man stood at the grave of the Prophet (PBUH) and prayed to God, saying, “O God, this one in the grave is Your beloved, and I am Your servant, and Satan is Your enemy. If You forgive me, Your beloved will be pleased, Your servant will be saved, and Your enemy will be grieved. If You do not forgive me, Your beloved will be grieved, Your servant will perish, and Your enemy will be pleased. You are too generous to grieve Your beloved, destroy Your servant, and please Your enemy. O God, when a beloved leader among the Arabs died, they would bring their slaves to his grave and set them free. Here I am, supplicating You at the grave of the Master of mankind, asking You to set me free from Hell.”
A Bedouin man stood at the grave of the Prophet (PBUH) and prayed to God, saying, “O God, this one in the grave is Your beloved, and I am Your servant, and Satan is Your enemy. If You forgive me, Your beloved will be pleased, Your servant will be saved, and Your enemy will be grieved. If You do not forgive me, Your beloved will be grieved, Your servant will perish, and Your enemy will be pleased. You are too generous to grieve Your beloved, destroy Your servant, and please Your enemy. O God, when a beloved leader among the Arabs died, they would bring their slaves to his grave and set them free. Here I am, supplicating You at the grave of the Master of mankind, asking You to set me free from Hell.”
