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Last Monday, amid a combined speech by US President Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner urging the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were violently removed from the parliamentary assembly, revealing the fragile state of what's often portrayed as the "only democratic state in the region". How can leaders talk about regional peace while declining to acknowledge a people denied of basic liberties and rights under long-standing occupation?

The Situation 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 intimidation continue loudly. Over 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in late September, featuring physical assaults, theft of crops, and burning of cars and property.

Systematic Aggression During Agricultural Period

The increase in violence by colonists is not coincidental. This period marks the start of agricultural harvesting. Beyond a crucial economic event, it represents an important social and cultural occasion that demonstrates resilience under military rule. Precisely for these causes, annually settlers attack Palestinian farmers throughout this precious time. During the 2024 harvest season, rights groups documented 113 separate cases of violence, harassment, harvest-thwarting, or damage to olive trees and produce by settlers and military personnel, which occurred on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian communities, municipalities, and communities.

Israel's security forces appeared to have had a larger role in obstructing the olive harvest

The human rights group also found that "Israel's military seemed to have played a greater part in hindering the harvesting season". In about 70% of instances where entry to lands was forcibly prevented, troops, border guards, and settler civilian security coordinators were physically present. They either personally stopped Palestinian farmers from reaching and harvesting their own lands, or neglected to stop settlers who threatened or attacked them.

Political Backing for Colonization

This is no shock, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an additional minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In one village, for example, a special military coordination team uprooted personally-owned olive trees of Palestinians, citing lack of permits, but ignored infractions by an illegal nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to halt all construction in the encampment, which was built on property taken by Israel and unlawfully transferred to colonists.

Annexation Goals and International Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is simply a instrument used by the government to achieve practical annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a march of thousands of settlers in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We are continuing to take hold with our feet of the Land of Israel with numerous settlers, numerous heroes, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who live in this part of the land ... we must to normalise it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their backers in the parliament are explicit about their motives and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the west refrain from meaningful penalties and political actions? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in June, but the impact of the penalty has been limited. He may not be able to travel to the United Kingdom and visit the London's entertainment district, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to seize lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of sanctions, the UK highlighted they take place "personally" solely.

International Acknowledgment and Reality

If the British administration acknowledges the truth of colonist aggression and its serious implications on Palestinian life, why does it still allow settlement produce to be sold in stores and shops in Britain? If the British leader is serious about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a state, how can he permit the Israeli administration to breach its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an empty ploy to silence dissenting voices in the UK, a meaningless gesture only to be implemented in the rebranding of some maps?

Pathway to True Peace

A fair resolution must honor the basic entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-determination, independence, and freedom from military occupation and blockade. Only when each person's worth between the Jordan River and sea is honored can we genuinely say peace has been achieved.

True resolution demands an independent Palestinian state alongside the Israeli state: this is the only formula that enjoises consensus among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

The former US president may have inflicted influence on Netanyahu to stop the genocide, but he probably only did so because the strain of his relationship with the pariah regime of Netanyahu had become too great. The large demonstrations across the world for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the persistent anti-government demonstrations inside Israel, are the real forces behind this influence.

It is due to this massive civil movement that a ceasefire has been signed, the captives released, and the residents of the territory can experience safeguard from destruction. After the truce arrangement has been signed, it is crucial to keep maintaining this pressure. The international community has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in Gaza for many years; it must not make the same mistake in the occupied territories.