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Last Monday, during a joint speech by US President Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign urging the recognition of Palestine. We were forcibly ejected from the parliamentary assembly, exposing the weak condition of what's frequently portrayed as the "only democracy in the Middle East". How can leaders talk about regional peace while refusing to recognize a population deprived of basic freedoms and entitlements under long-standing military control?

The Situation in the West Bank

In no place is the deceit more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, words of peace seem distant and faint, while the frightening echoes of colonist attacks and terror persist loudly. Over 30 occurrences of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in late September, including physical assaults, stealing of crops, and torching of cars and belongings.

Targeted Aggression During Harvest Season

The rise in violence by colonists is deliberate. This period signals the start of agricultural harvesting. More than a crucial economic event, it represents an important communal and national occasion that demonstrates endurance under occupation. Exactly for these causes, annually colonists target Palestinians during this precious period. During the 2024 harvest period, human rights organizations documented 113 distinct incidents of aggression, harassment, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive trees and crops by settlers and soldiers, which occurred on territories owned by 51 Palestinian-owned villages, towns, and communities.

Israeli security forces seemed to have played a larger role in hindering the harvesting season

Yesh Din also discovered that "Israeli security forces seemed to have played a larger role in hindering the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of cases where entry to farmland was forcibly prevented, soldiers, border guards, and settlement civilian security coordinators were physically present. They either directly stopped Palestinians from reaching and harvesting their own lands, or neglected to prevent settlers who threatened or assaulted them.

Government Support for Settler Activities

This comes as no shock, as the leader of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for instance, a particular COGAT unit removed personally-owned olive plants of local residents, claiming missing documentation, but overlooked infractions by an illegal nearby settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to stop all building work in the outpost, which was constructed on lands seized by Israel and illegally transferred to colonists.

Takeover Goals and International Response

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a instrument used by the government to pursue de-facto incorporation. Recently, Smotrich led a procession of many of colonists in favor of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as saying, "We are continuing to take hold with our presence of the territory with many pioneers, numerous champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who reside in this area of the territory ... we must to normalize it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their supporters in the Knesset are explicit about their motives and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the west hesitate from substantial penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in June, but the effect 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 governmental authority to take territories in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of sanctions, the UK emphasized they take place "in his personal capacity" only.

International Recognition and Actual Situation

If the UK government acknowledges the truth of settler violence and its serious implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still permit settlement produce to be marketed in stores and outlets in the UK? If Starmer is genuine about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a state, how can he allow the Israeli government to violate its independence with such violent means? Or was the recognition an hollow ploy to silence dissenting voices in the UK, a hollow gesture only to be realised in the relabeling of some maps?

Route Toward Genuine Resolution

A fair peace must respect the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people for self-determination, independence, and freedom from military occupation and blockade. Only when every human being's dignity between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we truly declare reconciliation has been attained.

Genuine peace demands an independent Palestinian nation alongside the Israeli state: this is the only formula that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have applied influence on Netanyahu to halt 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 Palestine, and the unwavering anti-government protests within the country, are the real forces behind this influence.

It is due to this massive public campaign that a truce has been agreed, the hostages freed, and the residents of Gaza can experience safeguard from annihilation. After the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is crucial to keep applying this pressure. The world has ignored to the violence in the strip for too long; it must not make the same mistake in the occupied territories.