Australia reassures Arab and Muslim countries on Palestinian issue

Australia's foreign minister Julie Bishop assured envoys from 18 Arab and Islamic countries Thursday that her government's position on the Palestinian territories had not changed, after altering its description of East Jerusalem from "occupied" to "disputed." She said their meeting was “constructive.” That position, she said, was consistent with UN resolutions on the Palestinian territories, and Canberra remained committed to a just and lasting two-state solution. Arab world trade sanctions were threatened after Australian Attorney-General George Brandis said Australia had dropped the term "occupied" for East Jerusalem as "neither appropriate nor useful."