Sharon sits down with Arafat at the beginning of negotiations
regarding the resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Sharon requests that he be allowed to begin with a story.
Arafat replies, "Of course."
Sharon begins his story: "Years before the Israelites came to the
Promised Land and settled here, Moses led them for 40 years through
the desert. The Israelites began complaining that they were thirsty
and, lo and behold, a miracle occurred and a stream appeared before
them. They drank their fill and then decided to take advantage of
the stream to do some bathing -- including Moses. When Moses came
out of the water, he found that his clothes were missing.
"Who took my clothes?" Moses asked those around him.
"It was the Palestinians," replied the Israelites.
"Wait a minute," objected Arafat immediately, "there were no
Palestinians during the time of Moses!"
"That's right," replies Sharon, "Now that we've got that settled,
let's begin our negotiations."
