Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, sits down with Arafat at the beginning of negotiations regarding the resolution of the conflict. The Prime Minister asks that he be allowed to begin with a story. Arafat agrees to the request.

The Prime Minister starts 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 of water appeared before them. They drank their fill and then decided to take advantage of the stream for some bathing -- including Moses. When Moses came out of the water, he found that all his clothes were missing.

"Who took my clothes?" asked Moses of those around him.

"Palestinians," replied all the Israelites.

"Wait a minute !!!" yells out Arafat, "There were no Palestinians during the time of Moses!"

"All right," replies the Prime Minister, "Now that we've got that settled, let's begin our negotiations."