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Last Monday, during a joint speech by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, colleague parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner urging the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly ejected from the parliamentary session, exposing the weak condition of what's frequently portrayed as the "sole democratic state in the region". How can officials talk about Middle East peace while refusing to acknowledge a population denied of basic freedoms and entitlements under long-standing occupation?

The Reality in the West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more apparent than in the occupied West Bank. There, talk of peace sound remote and faint, while the frightening echoes of colonist attacks and intimidation persist loudly. Over 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's peace proposal in late September, including physical assaults, theft of agricultural produce, and burning of cars and belongings.

Systematic Aggression During Harvest Season

The rise in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This time marks the start of agricultural harvesting. Beyond a crucial economic activity, it represents an important social and cultural moment that shows endurance under occupation. Exactly for these reasons, annually colonists attack Palestinian farmers during this precious time. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations recorded 113 distinct incidents of aggression, harassment, harvest-thwarting, 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 appeared to have had a larger part in hindering the olive harvest

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's security forces seemed to have played a greater part in hindering the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of cases where access to lands was violently blocked, soldiers, border guards, and settlement security officials were actually present. They either personally prevented Palestinians from accessing and gathering their property, or failed to prevent colonists who harassed or attacked them.

Government Backing for Settler Activities

This comes as no shock, as the leader of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional minister in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In Umm al-Khair, for example, a special COGAT unit uprooted personally-owned olive plants of local residents, citing lack of permits, but overlooked violations by an unauthorized nearby settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to stop all construction in the encampment, which was built on property taken by Israel and illegally transferred to colonists.

Annexation Goals and Global Response

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the government to pursue de-facto annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a march of many of settlers in support of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We are continuing to establish presence with our feet of the Land of Israel with numerous settlers, numerous champions, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who live in this area of the territory ... we need to normalise it and make it eternal."

The settlers and their supporters in the parliament are clear about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the west hesitate from substantial sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in June, but the effect of the sanction has been limited. He may not be permitted to travel to the UK and visit the London's entertainment district, but he still maintains the governmental authority to take lands in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of penalties, the British government highlighted they take place "personally" solely.

International Acknowledgment and Actual Situation

If the British administration acknowledges the truth of settler violence and its grave implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be sold in markets and shops in Britain? If Starmer is serious about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how come he allow the Israeli administration to violate its independence with such violent means? Or was the recognition an empty ploy to silence opposition in the United Kingdom, a hollow gesture only to be implemented in the rebranding of some maps?

Route Toward Genuine Peace

A fair peace must honor the fundamental entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-determination, sovereignty, and liberty from military occupation and siege. Only when each person's worth between the river and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we genuinely declare reconciliation has been attained.

Genuine peace requires an sovereign Palestinian state next to the Israeli state: this is the sole solution that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

Trump may have inflicted pressure on the Israeli leader to halt the genocide, but he likely only did so because the strain of his relationship with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become excessive. The mass protests across the world for the liberation of Palestine, and the unwavering anti-government protests inside the country, are the actual factors behind this influence.

It is thanks to this enormous civil movement that a ceasefire has been agreed, the captives released, and the residents of Gaza can enjoy protection from annihilation. Following the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is vital to keep applying this influence. The world has ignored to the atrocities in the strip for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.