Barak says Lieberman’s letter calling for Abbas’ ouster harms Israeli interests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - August 23, 2012 - 12:00am In closed discussions Wednesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak sharply criticized Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s letter to foreign ministers from the Middle East Quartet, calling for Palestinian Authority elections to replace PA President Mahmoud Abbas. “This letter harms Israeli national interests, and will aggravate circumstances with the Palestinians. This is deeply misguided policy,” Barak stated in the private discussion. » Read more

West Bank outpost residents: Migron deal endangers settlement enterprise ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - August 23, 2012 - 12:00am Residents of the West Bank outpost of Givat Assaf have sent a letter to neighboring residents of the outpost of Migron, blaming them of harming the settlement enterprise, saying that their actions will bring about the evacuation of additional West Bank outposts. » Read more

Integration of migrants' children into schools harms Israeli students, state says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Talia Nesher - August 23, 2012 - 12:00am Immigrant children should be separated from others in the school system, the Education Ministry believes, according to the State Prosecution’s appeal to the Supreme Court submitted earlier this week. The state appealed against the Be’er Sheva District Court, which had ordered Eilat two weeks ago to admit the children of African asylum-seekers to city schools. » Read more

PA minister: Settler violence undermines peace process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 23, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli violations against Palestinians are encouraging violence and harming the peace process, the Palestinian Authority minister of religious affairs said Wednesday. Mahmoud Habbash's remarks came as he visited the family of victims who were targeted by settlers in a Molotov attack a week earlier near Hebron in the southern West Bank. Representing the president, Habbash told the family of the victims that Mahmoud Abbas would follow up with their case and intended to pay for their pilgrimage to Mecca. » Read more

Two-state solution "most realistic" for Israelis, Palestinians: UN official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 23, 2012 - 12:00am A senior UN official on Wednesday described the two-state solution as "the best available and most realistic option for the Israelis and Palestinians, saying that the international community should make more efforts to bring the two parties closer to such a solution, which was widely backed in the world. » Read more

Hamas urges Egypt to treat Gazans as Israelis in Sinai ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 23, 2012 - 12:00am A Hamas official on Thursday called on Egypt to treat people in the Gaza Strip in the same way as it treats Israeli tourists who the Sinai Peninsula. Mahmoud Zahar, a leader of the Islamic movement that governs Gaza, said Egypt kept its border with Israel at Taba open during the Muslim feast this week and more than 10,000 Israelis have entered Sinai to spend their holiday. Zahar, writing on his Facebook page, added that the new Egyptian decision to open Rafah crossing point with Gaza for humanitarian cases only was "painful." » Read more

Ayalon: South Africa is still an Apartheid state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - August 23, 2012 - 12:00am Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon took a stab back at South African authorities Wednesday, following their decision to mandate special labels on products coming from settlements, for the killing of 34 striking platinum miners, the bloodiest operation since the end of white rule. "Unfortunately it turns out that the changes that took place in South Africa over the years have not brought about basic changes in the country, and it remains an Apartheid state," Ayalon charged. » Read more

PNA urges world to bar goods made in Jewish settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 23, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Thursday urged the world to bar goods made in Jewish settlements from entering the markets. "Blocking the settlements' goods emphasizes the international resolution about the illegitimacy and illegality of the settlements that were built on occupied Palestinian land," said a statement by the PNA's ministry of economy. The statement, meanwhile, welcomed South Africa's decision to label the settlements' products as being from the occupied Palestinian territories. The South African move has angered Israel. » Read more

PA thanks South Africa ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 23, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority applauded South Africa on Thursday after its cabinet voted to distinguish goods made in the occupied West Bank from normal Israeli products. Abdul Hafiz Nofal, the PA's deputy economy minister, said he thanked South Africa's ambassador for the decision to label settlement products as "Occupied Palestinian Territory" rather than "Israel." » Read more

Israel protests South African labeling law ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press August 22, 2012 - 12:00am Israel is condemning a new South African regulation requiring that products made in West Bank settlements must be labeled as coming from "occupied Palestinian territory." Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor calls the requirement "totally unacceptable." In a statement late Wednesday, Palmor said such measures have not been imposed, "and rightly so, in any other case of national, territorial or ethnic conflict." » Read more