NEWS: The Israeli government is scrambling to find ways to recognize "unauthorized" settlement outposts. The mayor of Bethlehem urges Israel not to humiliate vistors to the occupied Palestinian territories, as Israel is preparing to bar the entrance of hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists. Iran says it has arrested several "Israeli-linked mercenaries." Hamas accuses Egypt of blocking Qatari fuel bound for Gaza. An occupation soldier is accused of stealing gold from Palestinians during an Israeli raid in the West Bank. The Israeli military admits it has been barring Palestinian farmers from their lands in a West Bank village. Israel closes the center of the town of al-Ram in the occupied West Bank to traffic. Settlers clash with Israeli security forces. Expectations are low for an upcoming meeting of the MIddle East Quartet. Human rights groups call for a moratorium on executions by Hamas. COMMENTARY: Carl Perkal says Daniel Pipes has written an inexplicable and agressive attack against Palestinian citizens of Israel. Zvi Bar'el says the High Court and B'Tselem are crucial to Israeli democracy. Ha'aretz says Israel should stop public demands for the US to free convicted Israeli spy Pollard. Douglas Bloomfield says Republican candidates cannot reach most Jewish-American voters by grandstanding on Israel. Daniel Bettini says Israel's ban on Günter Grass is cynical and populist, but Daniel Goldhagen says Grass is the cynic. Osama Al Sharif says three letters now circulating sum up the present Palestinian dilema. Lara Friedman says the threats to Israeli democracy are all too real. Rashid Khalidi says plans by the Simon Weisenthal Center to build a "Museum of Tolerance" on the Muslim Mamilla cemetery are an effort to erase Palestinian history in Jerusalem. Benny Morris says the main obstacle to peace is "Palestinian rejectionism," not Israeli settlements.