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Last Monday, during a joint speech by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign calling for the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were violently removed from the legislative assembly, revealing the weak condition of what's often described as the "only democracy in the region". How can officials talk about Middle East peace while declining to acknowledge a people denied of fundamental freedoms and entitlements under long-standing military control?

The Reality in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more apparent than in the occupied West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation seem remote and faint, while the frightening echoes of colonist attacks and intimidation continue loudly. More than 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in late September, including attacks, theft of agricultural produce, and torching of cars and belongings.

Systematic Aggression During Harvest Season

The rise in settler terrorism is deliberate. This period signals the start of agricultural harvesting. More than a vital economic activity, it represents an significant social and national occasion that demonstrates endurance under military rule. Exactly for these reasons, year after year settlers target Palestinian farmers throughout this crucial time. During the 2024 harvest season, rights groups documented 113 distinct cases of aggression, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or damage to olive trees and crops involving Israeli civilians and soldiers, which took place on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian villages, municipalities, and areas.

Israeli security forces appeared to have had a greater role in hindering the olive harvest

Yesh Din also found that "Israel's security forces seemed to have played a greater role in hindering the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of cases where access to lands was forcibly prevented, soldiers, border guards, and settler civilian security coordinators were actually on site. They either personally stopped Palestinians from accessing and gathering their property, or failed to prevent colonists who harassed or attacked them.

Political Backing for Settler Activities

This is no shock, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an additional minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for instance, a special military coordination team uprooted private olive plants of local residents, claiming missing documentation, but ignored infractions by an unauthorized nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the local court ruled to halt all building work in the outpost, which was constructed on lands taken by Israeli authorities and illegally given to settlers.

Annexation Goals and Global Response

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is simply a tool used by the government to pursue practical annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a march of thousands of settlers in favor of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We are continuing to establish presence with our presence of the territory with numerous settlers, many heroes, and countless of colonists who live in this area of the territory ... we must to normalise it and make it eternal."

The settlers and their supporters in the Knesset are explicit about their intentions and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations hesitate from meaningful penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in the summer, but the impact of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be able to go to the United Kingdom and visit the London's entertainment district, but he still maintains the governmental authority to seize lands in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of penalties, the British government emphasized they take place "personally" only.

International Acknowledgment and Actual Situation

If the British administration recognizes the truth of colonist aggression and its serious consequences on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow settlement produce to be sold in stores and outlets in the UK? If the British leader is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how can he permit the Israeli government to breach its independence with such violent means? Or was the recognition an hollow ploy to silence dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a meaningless gesture only to be realised in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Pathway to Genuine Peace

A just peace must honor the basic entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, independence, and freedom from occupation and blockade. Only when every human being's dignity across the river and Mediterranean Sea is honored can we genuinely say peace has been attained.

Genuine resolution requires an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel: this is the only formula that has consensus among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have applied influence on the Israeli leader to halt the genocide, but he probably only did so because the strain of his relationship with the pariah regime of Netanyahu had become too great. The mass protests across the globe for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering anti-government demonstrations within Israel, are the actual factors behind this influence.

It is thanks to this enormous public campaign that a ceasefire has been signed, the hostages freed, and the people of Gaza can enjoy safeguard from annihilation. Following the truce arrangement has been signed, it is crucial to continue maintaining this pressure. The world has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in Gaza for many years; it must not make the same mistake in the occupied territories.