ABSTRACT
In the Palestinian Authority's (PA) elections that took place in January 2005, a significant percentage of Arab Jerusalemites stayed away from the polls out of concern that voting in them might jeopardize their status as residents of Israel. Peering over at Yasir Arafat's PA, they saw power monopolized by domineering and corrupt autocrats, a thug-like police force, and a stagnant economy. Indeed, precisely when Palestinian rule seemed most likely, in 2000, the Israeli Interior Ministry reported a substantial increase in citizenship applications from Arabs in eastern Jerusalem. The whole world seems to be talking about the future of the Arabs of Jerusalem. The international community and the Israeli Left seem to take it for granted that we want to live under Mr. Arafat's control. In the colorful words of one Jerusalem resident, "The hell of Israel is better than the paradise of Arafat".
