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Last week, during a combined address by US President Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign urging the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly removed from the legislative session, exposing the fragile state of what's often described as the "sole democracy in the region". How can officials talk about regional peace while declining to acknowledge a people denied of fundamental freedoms and entitlements under decades-long military control?

The Situation in the West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more evident than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of reconciliation seem remote and weak, while the terrifying echoes of colonist attacks and intimidation persist strongly. Over 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been documented since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in September's end, including attacks, stealing of crops, and burning of cars and belongings.

Targeted Aggression During Harvest Season

The rise in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period signals the start of agricultural harvesting. More than a vital economic activity, it constitutes an significant communal and national moment that shows endurance under occupation. Precisely for these reasons, annually colonists target Palestinians during this crucial period. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations recorded 113 separate incidents of aggression, harassment, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and crops involving Israeli civilians and soldiers, which occurred on territories owned by 51 Palestinian-owned villages, municipalities, and communities.

Israel's security forces seemed to have played a larger part in hindering the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's military seemed to have played a greater role in obstructing the harvesting season". In about 70% of instances where entry to lands was forcibly prevented, soldiers, border guards, and settlement civilian security coordinators were physically present. They either directly stopped Palestinians from reaching and harvesting their own lands, or neglected to stop settlers who threatened or assaulted them.

Political Backing for Colonization

This is no shock, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra official in the Defense Ministry responsible for the territorial coordination unit. In one village, for example, a particular military coordination team uprooted personally-owned olive trees of Palestinians, claiming lack of permits, but ignored violations by an unauthorized nearby settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to halt all construction in the encampment, which was constructed on lands taken by Israel and unlawfully given to colonists.

Takeover Goals and International Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a instrument used by the government to pursue practical incorporation. Recently, Smotrich led a procession of many of settlers in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We persist to take hold with our feet of the territory with many pioneers, numerous heroes, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who reside in this part of the territory ... we need to normalise it and establish it permanently."

The colonists and their supporters in the parliament are explicit about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do government officials in the Western nations hesitate from meaningful penalties and political actions? Smotrich was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in June, but the effect of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be able to travel to the UK and tour the London's entertainment district, but he still maintains the ministerial power to seize lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the announcement of penalties, the UK emphasized they apply "in his personal capacity" solely.

Global Recognition and Reality

If the British administration recognizes the reality of colonist aggression and its serious implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be sold in markets and outlets in the UK? If the British leader is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how can he allow the Israeli government to violate its independence with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an hollow ploy to shut down dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a hollow act only to be realised in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward True Peace

A just peace must respect the fundamental entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-determination, sovereignty, and liberty from military occupation and siege. Only when every human being's dignity across the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we truly say peace has been attained.

True peace requires an sovereign Palestinian nation alongside Israel: this is the sole formula that has consensus among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace camp.

Trump may have inflicted pressure on Netanyahu to stop the violence, but he probably only did so because the strain of his relationship with the pariah regime of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The mass protests throughout the globe 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 civil movement that a ceasefire has been signed, the captives freed, and the residents of the territory can enjoy safeguard from destruction. Following the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is crucial to keep maintaining this pressure. The international community has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in the strip for many years; it must not make the same error in the West Bank.