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Last Monday, amid a joint speech by US President Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign urging the recognition of Palestine. We were violently ejected from the legislative session, exposing the fragile state of what's often portrayed as the "only democracy in the region". How can officials talk about Middle East peace while refusing to acknowledge a people deprived of fundamental liberties and rights under decades-long occupation?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

In no place is the deceit more evident than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of reconciliation seem remote and weak, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and terror continue strongly. Over 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the announcement of the US peace proposal in late September, featuring attacks, theft of crops, and burning of vehicles and property.

Targeted Aggression During Agricultural Period

The rise in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period marks the start of harvest seasons. More than a vital economic activity, it constitutes an significant social and national occasion that demonstrates endurance under military rule. Precisely for these causes, year after year settlers attack Palestinian farmers throughout this crucial time. During the 2024 harvest period, human rights organizations documented 113 distinct incidents of aggression, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and produce by Israeli civilians and soldiers, which took place on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned communities, municipalities, and communities.

Israel's military seemed to have had a larger role in obstructing the olive harvest

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's security forces appeared to have played a larger part in hindering the olive harvest". In about 70% of cases where entry to farmland was forcibly prevented, soldiers, border police officers, and settler security officials were physically present. They either directly stopped Palestinian farmers from reaching and harvesting their property, or neglected to stop settlers who threatened or assaulted them.

Government Backing for Colonization

This is no shock, as the leader of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra official in the Defense Ministry in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for instance, a particular military coordination team removed personally-owned olive plants of Palestinians, citing missing documentation, but overlooked violations by an illegal nearby settler outpost. Last week, the local court ruled to halt all building work in the outpost, which was constructed on property seized by Israeli authorities and illegally given to settlers.

Takeover Ambitions and International Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a instrument used by the administration to achieve de-facto incorporation. Recently, Smotrich led a march of many of colonists in support of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our presence of the territory with many settlers, many heroes, and countless of colonists who reside in this area of the land ... we need to normalise it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their supporters in the Knesset are explicit about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the west hesitate from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in the summer, but the effect of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be able to go to the United Kingdom and visit the West End, but he still maintains the governmental authority to seize territories in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of penalties, the UK highlighted they take place "personally" solely.

International Recognition and Actual Situation

If the UK government acknowledges the truth of colonist aggression and its serious implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow settlement produce to be sold in stores and outlets in Britain? If the British leader is genuine about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a sovereign entity, how can he permit the Israeli administration to breach its sovereignty with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an empty ploy to shut down dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a hollow act only to be implemented in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward True Peace

A just resolution must respect the fundamental entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-determination, independence, and liberty from military occupation and blockade. Only when each person's worth across the river and sea is respected can we truly declare reconciliation has been achieved.

Genuine peace demands an sovereign Palestinian nation next to the Israeli state: this is the only solution that enjoises agreement among the international community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

Trump may have inflicted pressure on Netanyahu to halt the genocide, but he probably only did so because the strain of his connection with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become too great. The mass protests throughout the world for the freedom of Palestine, and the unwavering opposition protests within the country, are the real factors behind this influence.

It is due to this massive public campaign that a ceasefire has been signed, the hostages released, and the people of Gaza can enjoy protection from destruction. After the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is vital to continue applying this pressure. The world has ignored to the violence in the strip for too long; it must not make the same error in the occupied territories.