The prime minister of Israel sits down with Arafat at the beginning of negotiations regarding the resolution of the conflict.  Prime Minister Sharon requests that he be allowed to begin with a story.

Arafat replies, "Of course."

The prime minister 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 all his clothing was 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!"

"All right," replied the prime minister.  "Now that we've got that settled, let's begin our negotiations."