Mahmud the Palestinian comes up to the Israeli border on his bicycle. He's got two large bags of sand over his shoulders. The Israeli soldier guard stops him and says, "What's in the bags?"
"Sand," answers Mahmud.
The guard says," We'll just see about that - get off that bike."
The guard takes the bags and rips them apart: he empties them out and finds nothing in them but sand. He detains Mahmud overnight and has the sand analysed only to discover there is nothing but sand in the bags.
The guard releases Mahmud, puts the sand in new bags and sends him on his way across the border.
A week later, the same thing happens again. The Israeli soldier asks, "What do you have there?"
"Sand," Mahmud replies.
The guard does a thorough examination and discovers the same thing, sand. He gives the sand back and Mahmud crosses the border on his bicycle.
This sequence of events is repeated every day for three years. Finally one day Mahmud doesn't show up and the guard meets him at a falafel stand outside of Jericho.
"Hey Buddy," says the guard, "I know you're smuggling something. It's driving me crazy, I can't eat or sleep. It's all I think about. Just between you and me, what are you smuggling?"
Mahmud stops chewing on his pita and says "Bicycles."
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