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Last week, amid a joint speech by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling for the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were violently removed from the parliamentary session, exposing the weak condition of what's often described as the "sole democratic state in the region". How can officials speak about regional peace while refusing to acknowledge a people deprived of fundamental liberties and entitlements under long-standing military control?

The Reality in the Occupied West Bank

In no place is the deceit more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, words of peace sound distant and faint, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and intimidation continue strongly. More than 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been documented since the announcement of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in September's end, including physical assaults, stealing of crops, and burning of vehicles and property.

Systematic Violence During Harvest Season

The increase in violence by colonists is not coincidental. This period marks the beginning of harvest seasons. Beyond a vital economic event, it represents an significant communal and cultural moment that shows endurance under military rule. Precisely for these reasons, year after year settlers target Palestinians throughout this precious period. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations recorded 113 distinct incidents of violence, harassment, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive trees and crops by Israeli civilians and military personnel, which occurred on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian villages, towns, and communities.

Israeli military seemed to have played a greater role in hindering the harvesting season

Yesh Din also found that "Israeli security forces appeared to have had a greater role in hindering the harvesting season". In about 70% of cases where entry to farmland was violently prevented, troops, border guards, and settlement civilian security coordinators were actually present. They either personally prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching and gathering their property, or neglected to prevent colonists who threatened or assaulted them.

Political Backing for Settler Activities

This comes as no shock, as the leader of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional minister in the Defense Ministry responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for example, a special COGAT unit uprooted private olive trees of Palestinians, claiming lack of permits, but overlooked infractions by an unauthorized adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to halt all building work in the outpost, which was built on lands taken by Israeli authorities and illegally given to colonists.

Takeover Goals and Global Response

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is simply a instrument used by the government to pursue de-facto incorporation. Recently, Smotrich led a march of thousands of settlers in support of taking over the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We are continuing to establish presence with our presence of the territory with numerous settlers, numerous heroes, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who reside in this area of the territory ... we must to normalise it and establish it permanently."

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

Global Recognition and Reality

If the UK government acknowledges the reality of colonist aggression and its grave implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be marketed in markets and outlets in the UK? If the British leader is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how can he permit the Israeli government to breach its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an empty ploy to shut down opposition in the UK, a hollow gesture only to be implemented in the rebranding of some maps?

Route Toward Genuine Peace

A just resolution must honor the fundamental entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, independence, and liberty from military occupation and siege. Only when every human being's dignity between the river and Mediterranean Sea is honored can we truly declare reconciliation has been achieved.

Genuine resolution requires an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel: this is the only formula that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have applied pressure on the Israeli leader to halt the genocide, but he probably only did so because the strain of his relationship with the pariah regime of Netanyahu had become excessive. The mass protests across the world for the liberation of Palestine, and the unwavering opposition demonstrations within Israel, are the real factors behind this pressure.

It is due to this enormous civil movement that a truce has been signed, the hostages freed, and the people of the territory can experience protection from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is crucial to keep applying this influence. The world has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in the strip for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the West Bank.