Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that her country has not changed its position on Australian legal status of the oPt and East Jerusalem.
WAFA reports that AU Rep to Palestine Tom Wilson delivered a letter to Palestinian Deputy Foreign Minister, Tayseer Jaradat, at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Ramallah ascertaining this position.
The letter aims to provide clarification of the country’s position regarding the remarks that were recently made by AU Attorney, General George Brandis, that they would no longer be using the word ‘occupied’ to describe East Jerusalem.
Australia’s legal position on the status of the Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, to quote WAFA, ‘remains consistent with the relevant UN resolutions and that Australia remains committed to the two-state solution, underscoring the importance of negotiations to reach a just agreement that would be conducive to the establishment of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in security, prosperity and peace’.
Furthermore, Mr. Jaradat thanked Mr. Wilson, underscoring the need for Australia’s government to take ‘a more balanced position on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict’, and stressing ‘the importance of Australian-Palestinian relations’.
