Israel Matzav

Australia says 'east' Jerusalem is not 'occupied'; little rump king seethes

Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.

This should have made a much bigger splash. The government of Australia announced on Thursday that as far as it is concerned, 'east' Jerusalem is not 'occupied.'

“The description of east Jerusalem as ‘Occupied East Jerusalem’ is a term freighted with pejorative implications, which is neither appropriate nor useful,” George Brandis said, reading out a statement written following a conversation with Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop.

“It should not and will not be the practice of the Australian government to describe areas of negotiations in such judgmental language,” he said.

Brandis said the description of areas, which are the subject of negotiations, by reference to historical events was “unhelpful.”

He added that Australia supported a peaceful solution to the Palestinian- Israeli conflict that “recognizes the right of Israel to exist peacefully within secure borders and also recognizes the aspiration to statehood of the Palestinian people.”

The comments came following a heated debate Wednesday evening in the Senate, where Brandis took issue when a Greens party senator referred to “occupied east Jerusalem.”

Bishop - and the Australian government in general - is apparently even more sympathetic to the Israeli position.

In January, Bishop – during a short visit to attend Ariel Sharon’s funeral – took issue with those calling the settlements illegal. Indeed, Australia now refrains from using the term “illegal” to refer to settlements. Canberra also does not refer to the West Bank as “occupied” territory, but rather “disputed” territory.

Although the European Union routinely states the settlements are “illegal,” the US – which is adamantly opposed to Israel’s settlement policy – refrains from using that term, now generally calling them “illegitimate” or “unhelpful.”

Last month, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat wrote Bishop slamming Australia’s ambassador to Israel, David Sharma, for meeting Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel in his east Jerusalem office.

Erekat said the meeting had the “effect of attempting to legitimize the illegal situation on the ground and may be deemed as aiding, abetting or otherwise assisting illegal Israeli policies.”

Canberra simply ignored the protest.

Meanwhile, the little rump king in Amman is fuming. 

The report cited Jordanian government spokesman Barbat Amon as stating that all territory gained by Israel in the "Six Day War" of 1967 is considered "occupied territory" by international law. Those territories include east Jerusalem and the Old City, which were wrestled from Jordanian control in the war. 

It's hard for the Arabs to hear the truth, isn't it? What 'international law'?

Labels: Australia, East Jerusalem, Jordan is Palestine, Jordanian occupation, Judea and Samaria, Julie Bishop, occupation

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:26 PM