Django variable to javascript '&' character -

so when trying pass list of country codes javascript, replaces single quotes -> ' ' tried replace of regular expression, not work. i'm wondering why not work have single quotes

function drawregionsmap() {          (item in {{countries}}) {             item.replace(/'/g, "'");         }         var data = google.visualization.arraytodatatable([             {{countries}}         ); 

in javascript it's this:

function drawregionsmap() {  (item in [['country'], ['au'], ['at'], ['be'], ['bo'], ... ['li'], ['mc'], ['id']]) {     item.replace(/'/g, "'"); } var data = google.visualization.arraytodatatable([     [['country'], ['au'], ['at'], ['be'], ['bo'], ['co'], ... ['id']] ); 

so need pass django variable javascript different way? possible? appreciated

the error: syntaxerror: expected expression, got '&'

apparantly fixed doing {{countries|safe}}. believe that's being used escape characters. mike c providing link, solution found here