Australia: East Jerusalem is not ‘occupied’
(Israel Hayom / Worthy News)– The Australian government has stopped using the term “occupied” when referring to east Jerusalem, Australian media outlets reported on Thursday.
In a statement released on Thursday, Australian Attorney-General George Brandis, speaking for Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, said, “Australia supports a peaceful solution to the dispute between Israel and the Palestinian people, which recognizes the right of Israel to exist peacefully within secure borders and also recognizes the aspiration to statehood of the Palestinian people. The description of areas which are subject to negotiations in the course of the peace process by reference to historical events is unhelpful.
“The description of East Jerusalem as ‘Occupied East Jerusalem’ is a term freighted with pejorative implications which is neither appropriate nor useful. It should not and will not be the practice of the Australian government to describe areas of negotiation in such judgmental language.”