A little joke from my grandmother

[MAlibdem]

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 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 of his clothing was missing.

"Who took my clothing?" he 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."



Thoughts?

Edit: I was debating whether this should be Lounge material, or I/P material...if the moderators want to move it, im down

[JohnLocke]

1. Mildly amusing, I suppose.

[Muddleoftheroad]

2. It is rare to smile in I/P

And since I did, I give you credit.

[RC]

3. A little History

http://www.palestinehistory.com/altindex.html

http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/ngo/history.html

http://www.npr.org/news/specials/mideast/history/
"In 1917, 20 years after the first Zionist Congress, Great Britain declared itself in favor of establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine. (Arthur James Balfour, author of the declaration, is pictured at left.) Britain gained control of Palestine at the end of World War I, and in 1922, the League of Nations gave a mandate to Britain to rule Palestine, envisioning that the territory would eventually be granted independence."

[shadu]

4. I have a GREAT story about what happened to the 12 tribes!

Here is the punchline:
Muhammad, having been enlightened by Allah, moved across
the sands, and brought peace to the tribes, claiming,
"There is no god but God. We call God by different names,
but He is the source of salvation for all. All men can live in harmony."
He then approached the Jews, not to convert them; to bring them
his offer of ecumenical equality and peace.

During the night, the Jews did descend upon him, in violation
of their word, and all twelve tribes were overrun and either wiped out or sent wandering aimless into the desert.
At the conclusion of the battle, Muhammad turned to his second:
"I came to talk peace and brotherhood
for all. They claimed they wanted peace.
If I had known they wanted to fight, I would have brought
the men."

[MAlibdem]

6. hmmm...

Misogynism, fun...at least my joke isn't hateful of women...

[mobuto]

5. Bone-headed arguments

The idea of using ancient history to address present day border issues is completely insane. I believe Israel has a right to exist, but not because of political reality 5000 years ago. Its like the border disputes in the Balkans - where borders change on a seemingly weekly basis - and where claims are predicated on how far in any one direction the Roman Empire got. Who cares? This isn't what history is useful for.

The Welsh are descendents of the apparently original Britons, who were killed or displaced by the Anglo-Saxon invasions following the fall of the Roman Empire. So maybe they should try to claim all England, making jokes about how the English have no historical claim to England. I just want to smack my head.

[tinnypriv]

8. Hell

Our current national football stadium is in their country. They've got a head-start.

[Gimel]

9. Seems

you're on the wrong forum.

[tinnypriv]

11. There are other forums?

Silly me.

[bluesoul]

7. There was no Israel

either before 1948...

[Muddleoftheroad]

10. Oh no?

Tell me, what nation built that temple on which the Muslims built the Dome of the Rock?

[mobuto]

12. Which nation built the Temple?

Wouldn't that have been the Kingdom of Judea?

[undergroundrailroad]

13. Locking per I/P Guidelines

New threads must be based on a recently-published news item or op-ed piece.

I/P Posting Policy


Undergroundrailroad
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