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Last Monday, amid a joint speech by American leader Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign calling for the acknowledgment of Palestine. We were violently removed from the legislative session, revealing the fragile condition of what's often portrayed as the "only democratic state in the Middle East". How can leaders talk about regional peace while declining to recognize a people deprived of basic liberties and entitlements under decades-long military control?

The Reality in the West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, words of peace seem remote and weak, while the terrifying sounds of settler violence and terror persist strongly. More than 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the unveiling of the Trump administration's peace proposal in September's end, featuring physical assaults, stealing of crops, and torching of vehicles and property.

Targeted Violence During Agricultural Period

The increase in violence by colonists is deliberate. This period marks the beginning of agricultural harvesting. More than a crucial economic activity, it constitutes an significant communal and cultural occasion that demonstrates resilience under occupation. Exactly for these reasons, annually colonists target Palestinians throughout this precious period. During the 2024 harvest period, human rights organizations documented 113 distinct cases of violence, harassment, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and crops by settlers and soldiers, which occurred on territories belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned communities, municipalities, and areas.

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

The human rights group also discovered that "Israeli security forces appeared to have played a larger role in obstructing the harvesting season". In about 70% of cases where entry to lands was forcibly prevented, troops, border guards, and settlement security officials were actually present. They either personally prevented Palestinians from reaching and harvesting their own lands, or failed to prevent colonists who threatened or attacked them.

Political Support for Settler Activities

This comes as no surprise, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an additional official in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the territorial coordination unit. In one village, for example, a particular military coordination team removed private olive plants of local residents, citing missing documentation, but overlooked violations by an illegal nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to halt all building work in the outpost, which was constructed on lands taken by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to colonists.

Annexation Goals and Global Response

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the government to achieve practical incorporation. Recently, Smotrich led a march of many of settlers in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We are continuing to take hold with our presence of the territory with many pioneers, many champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who reside in this part of the territory ... we must to normalise it and establish it permanently."

The colonists and their backers in the Knesset are clear about their motives and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations hesitate from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in June, but the impact of the sanction has been limited. He may not be able to go to the UK and tour the London's entertainment district, but he still enjoys the governmental authority to take lands in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of sanctions, the British government emphasized they take place "in his personal capacity" only.

International Acknowledgment and Reality

If the UK government recognizes the reality of colonist aggression and its serious consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be sold in stores and shops in the UK? If the British leader is genuine about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a state, how come he permit the Israeli government to breach its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the acknowledgment an hollow ploy to silence opposition in the UK, a meaningless gesture only to be implemented in the relabeling of some maps?

Route Toward Genuine Resolution

A fair resolution must honor the basic entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, sovereignty, and freedom from occupation and siege. Only when every human being's worth between the Jordan River and sea is respected can we truly declare peace has been achieved.

Genuine peace requires an sovereign Palestinian nation next to the Israeli state: this is the only formula that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

The former US president may have inflicted pressure on Netanyahu to stop the genocide, but he probably only did so because the burden of his connection with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become too great. The large demonstrations throughout the globe for the liberation of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering opposition demonstrations within the country, are the actual factors behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this massive civil movement that a ceasefire has been signed, the hostages freed, and the residents of the territory can experience protection from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is vital to keep applying this pressure. The international community has ignored to the atrocities in Gaza for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.