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Last Monday, during a joint address by American leader Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, colleague parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign urging the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were violently removed from the legislative session, exposing the weak condition of what's often portrayed as the "sole democracy in the Middle East". How can leaders talk about Middle East peace while declining to acknowledge a people deprived of basic freedoms and entitlements under decades-long military control?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

In no place is the hypocrisy more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation seem remote and faint, while the frightening echoes of settler violence and terror persist loudly. Over 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in September's end, including attacks, stealing of agricultural produce, and burning of cars and belongings.

Systematic Aggression During Agricultural Period

The increase in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period signals the beginning of harvest seasons. More than a vital economic event, it represents an important social and cultural moment that demonstrates resilience under occupation. Exactly for these reasons, year after year colonists target Palestinian farmers during this crucial time. During the 2024 harvest season, rights groups documented 113 distinct cases of violence, harassment, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive groves and crops involving Israeli civilians and soldiers, which took place on territories owned by 51 Palestinian communities, towns, and areas.

Israel's security forces seemed to have played a greater part in obstructing the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's military seemed to have played a greater role in obstructing the olive harvest". In about 70% of instances where entry to farmland was forcibly prevented, soldiers, border police officers, and settler civilian security coordinators were actually present. They either personally stopped Palestinians from accessing and harvesting their own lands, or failed to stop colonists who threatened or attacked them.

Political Backing for Settler Activities

This is no shock, as the leader of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra official in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a special military coordination team removed personally-owned olive plants of Palestinians, claiming lack of permits, but overlooked violations by an unauthorized adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to stop all building work in the encampment, which was constructed on lands taken by Israel and unlawfully given to colonists.

Takeover Ambitions and International Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the administration to pursue de-facto incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a march of many of settlers in support of taking over the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our feet of the territory with many settlers, numerous champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who live in this area of the land ... we must to normalise it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their backers in the parliament are explicit about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the west hesitate from meaningful penalties and political actions? Smotrich was penalized by the United Kingdom in June, but the impact of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be permitted to go to the UK and tour the West End, but he still enjoys the governmental authority to take lands in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of penalties, the UK emphasized they take place "in his personal capacity" solely.

Global Recognition and Reality

If the British administration acknowledges the reality of colonist aggression and its serious implications on Palestinian life, why does it still allow settlement produce to be marketed in markets and outlets in Britain? If Starmer is genuine about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a state, how can he permit the Israeli administration to violate its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an hollow ploy to shut down opposition in the UK, a hollow gesture only to be realised in the relabeling of some maps?

Pathway to True Peace

A just peace must respect the basic entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, sovereignty, and liberty from occupation and blockade. Only when every person's dignity between the river and sea is honored can we truly say peace has been attained.

Genuine resolution demands an sovereign Palestinian nation next to Israel: this is the sole solution that has consensus among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have inflicted influence on the Israeli leader to stop the genocide, but he probably only did so because the strain of his connection with the pariah regime of Netanyahu had become excessive. The mass protests throughout the world for the liberation of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering anti-government protests within Israel, are the real forces behind this influence.

It is due to this enormous public campaign that a truce has been signed, the hostages released, and the people of the territory can enjoy protection from annihilation. After the truce arrangement has been finalized, 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 mistake in the West Bank.