Don't escape XML in the JavaScript bit. <%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" %> <c:set var="foobar" value="Foo's Moos" /> <html> <head><script language="JavaScript">alert("<c:out value='${foobar}' escapeXml='false' />");</script></head> <body bgcolor="white"> <c:out value="${foobar}" /> </body> </html>
-Rahul