Jerusalem chronicles

By KSENIA SVETLOVA
January 2006 • Police arrest three Arab youths who were hanging Hamas election posters along east Jerusalem's Salah a-Din Street. • Hamas offices in east Jerusalem are raided by police and shut down. • East Jerusalem residents are allowed to take part in the upcoming Palestinian Authority parliamentary elections. Acting prime minister Ehud Olmert warns that "there will be no Hamas propaganda, and activists who enter east Jerusalem will be detained." • Hamas scores a landslide victory in the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council on January 25, capturing 76 of 132 seats. • In east Jerusalem Hamas wins four out of six mandates. The other two are reserved for Christian candidates running on the Fatah list. March 2006 • The Hamas-led government is sworn in. Khaled Abu Arafa, a Hamas official residing in east Jerusalem, becomes the PA minister of Jerusalem Affairs. June 2006 • Interior minister Ronnie Bar-On strips Abu Arafa and three Hamas legislators - Muhammad Abu Tir, Ahmed Abu Atoun and Mahmoud Tota - of their Israeli residency status, even though they live in east Jerusalem, because they refuse to resign their political posts in the PA cabinet. • Israeli citizens in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem enjoy a number of social services, including pension and health care benefits, as well as freedom of movement within the country. • Abu Tir is arrested along with 63 other Hamas officials in a continuing crackdown on the Islamist organization's activity in the capital. May 2007 • Mayor Uri Lupolianski warns that the capital's demographic trends could lead to Hamas taking over the city. June 2007 • Hamas takes over the Gaza Strip. • Deposed PA prime minister Ismail Haniyeh vows to "avenge Jerusalem." July 2007 • Eleven Hamas members, 10 of them with Jerusalem residency, are arrested for planning military operations