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Last Monday, during a joint speech by American leader Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, colleague parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I displayed a banner urging the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly ejected from the parliamentary session, exposing the weak condition of what's frequently portrayed as the "sole democratic state in the Middle East". How can leaders speak about Middle East peace while declining to recognize a population deprived of basic liberties and entitlements under long-standing military control?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of peace seem distant and faint, while the terrifying sounds of colonist attacks and intimidation continue loudly. More than 30 occurrences of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the unveiling of the Trump administration's peace proposal in late September, including physical assaults, stealing of crops, and torching of cars and property.

Targeted Aggression During Harvest Season

The increase in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This time signals the start of agricultural harvesting. More than a vital economic activity, it represents an significant communal and cultural moment that demonstrates endurance under occupation. Exactly for these reasons, annually settlers attack Palestinian farmers during this crucial period. During the last year's agricultural period, rights groups documented 113 distinct cases of aggression, harassment, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive trees and crops by settlers and soldiers, which occurred on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian communities, towns, and areas.

Israeli military appeared to have played a larger role in hindering the harvesting season

Yesh Din also discovered that "Israeli military appeared to have played a greater part in obstructing the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of cases where access to lands was violently prevented, troops, border guards, and settler security officials were physically on site. They either directly prevented Palestinian farmers from accessing and harvesting their property, or neglected to stop settlers who harassed or attacked them.

Government Backing for Colonization

This is no shock, as the leader of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional official in the Defense Ministry responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a special COGAT unit uprooted private olive trees of Palestinians, claiming missing documentation, but overlooked violations by an illegal adjacent settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to halt all building work in the outpost, which was built on lands seized by Israel and unlawfully transferred to settlers.

Takeover Goals and International Response

In the controlled West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a tool used by the administration to pursue practical incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a procession of many of settlers in support of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as saying, "We are continuing to establish presence with our feet of the territory with numerous pioneers, many champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who live in this part of the land ... we need to normalise it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their supporters in the Knesset are explicit about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations hesitate from substantial sanctions and political actions? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in June, but the impact of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be able to go to the United Kingdom and visit the West End, but he still maintains the ministerial power to seize lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of sanctions, the UK emphasized they apply "in his personal capacity" solely.

Global Acknowledgment and Actual Situation

If the UK government recognizes the truth of settler violence and its grave consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still allow settlement produce to be sold in markets and outlets in Britain? If the British leader is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a state, how come he permit the Israeli administration to breach its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an empty ploy to silence opposition in the UK, a hollow gesture only to be realised in the relabeling of some maps?

Pathway to Genuine Peace

A fair peace must respect the fundamental rights of the Palestinian population for self-determination, independence, and freedom from occupation and blockade. Only when every human being's worth across the river and sea is respected can we truly declare peace has been attained.

Genuine resolution demands an sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel: this is the sole solution that enjoises agreement among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have inflicted pressure on the Israeli leader to stop the violence, but he probably only did so because the strain of his connection with the pariah regime of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The mass protests across the globe for the liberation of Palestine, and the persistent opposition demonstrations within the country, are the actual factors behind this influence.

It is thanks to this enormous civil movement that a truce has been signed, the captives freed, and the people of Gaza can experience protection from destruction. After the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is vital to keep maintaining this pressure. The international community has ignored to the atrocities in Gaza for many years; it must not repeat the same error in the West Bank.