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Last week, amid a joint speech by American leader Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner urging the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly ejected from the legislative assembly, exposing the weak state of what's frequently described 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 long-standing occupation?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

In no place is the hypocrisy more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of peace seem distant and weak, while the frightening echoes of settler violence and intimidation continue strongly. More than 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the announcement of the Trump administration's peace proposal in September's end, including physical assaults, theft of agricultural produce, and burning of cars and property.

Systematic Aggression During Agricultural Period

The increase in settler terrorism is deliberate. This time marks the beginning of harvest seasons. More than a crucial economic event, it represents an significant social and cultural moment that shows endurance under occupation. Precisely for these reasons, annually colonists target Palestinians throughout this precious time. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations recorded 113 distinct incidents of aggression, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and crops involving settlers and military personnel, which occurred on territories belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned villages, towns, and communities.

Israel's security forces seemed to have had a greater role in obstructing the olive harvest

The human rights group also found that "Israel's military appeared to have had a greater part in hindering the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of cases where entry to lands was forcibly blocked, soldiers, border police officers, and settlement security officials were physically present. They either personally prevented Palestinians from accessing and harvesting their own lands, or neglected to prevent colonists who harassed or attacked them.

Political Support for Colonization

This comes as no shock, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra official in the Defense Ministry in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a special COGAT unit removed private olive plants of local residents, claiming missing documentation, but ignored infractions by an illegal nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the local court ruled to halt all construction in the encampment, which was built on property taken by Israel and unlawfully transferred to colonists.

Takeover Ambitions and International Response

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the administration to pursue practical annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a march of thousands of settlers in support of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our feet of the territory with many pioneers, numerous champions, and countless of settlers who reside in this part of the territory ... we need to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their supporters in the parliament are explicit about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do government officials in the west hesitate from meaningful penalties and political actions? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in June, but the impact of the penalty has been limited. He may not be permitted to go to the United Kingdom and tour the London's entertainment district, but he still maintains the ministerial power to seize territories in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of sanctions, the UK emphasized they take place "personally" solely.

International Acknowledgment and Reality

If the British administration recognizes the truth of colonist aggression and its grave consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still allow settlement produce to be marketed in markets and outlets in the UK? If the British leader is serious about recognition of Palestine as a state, how can he permit the Israeli government to violate its sovereignty with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an empty tactic to silence dissenting voices in the UK, a meaningless gesture only to be realised in the relabeling of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward Genuine Resolution

A fair peace must honor the basic rights of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, independence, and liberty from occupation and blockade. Only when every human being's dignity between the river and sea is honored can we genuinely say reconciliation has been achieved.

True resolution requires an sovereign Palestinian nation next to the Israeli state: this is the sole formula that enjoises consensus among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

Trump may have applied influence on the Israeli leader to halt the violence, but he likely only did so because the strain of his connection with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become excessive. The large demonstrations across the globe for the liberation of Palestine, and the persistent anti-government protests within the country, are the real forces behind this influence.

It is thanks to this massive civil movement that a ceasefire has been signed, the hostages freed, and the residents of Gaza can experience safeguard from destruction. After the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is crucial to continue applying this influence. The world has ignored to the violence in Gaza for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the West Bank.