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Last week, during a joint address by American leader Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, colleague parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign calling for the acknowledgment of Palestine. We were violently ejected from the parliamentary session, exposing the weak condition of what's frequently described as the "sole democratic state in the Middle East". How can leaders speak about Middle East peace while declining to recognize a people denied of basic freedoms and rights under decades-long military control?

The Situation in the West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, words of peace seem distant and faint, while the frightening sounds of settler violence and terror continue loudly. Over 30 occurrences of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been documented since the unveiling of the Trump administration's peace proposal in September's end, including attacks, stealing of crops, and burning of cars and property.

Targeted Aggression During Agricultural Period

The increase in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This time signals the start of harvest seasons. More than a vital economic event, it represents an significant communal and national moment that demonstrates resilience under military rule. Exactly for these reasons, year after year settlers attack Palestinians during this crucial time. During the 2024 harvest period, human rights organizations documented 113 distinct incidents of violence, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or damage to olive groves and produce by Israeli civilians and soldiers, which took place on lands owned by 51 Palestinian villages, municipalities, and communities.

Israeli military appeared to have had a greater part in hindering the olive harvest

The human rights group also discovered that "Israeli security forces appeared to have had a larger part in hindering the olive harvest". In about 70% of cases where access to lands was violently prevented, troops, border police officers, and settler civilian security coordinators were actually on site. They either directly prevented Palestinians from reaching and gathering their own lands, or neglected to stop settlers who harassed or attacked them.

Government Support for Settler Activities

This comes as no surprise, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for example, a special COGAT unit removed private olive trees of local residents, citing lack of permits, but ignored violations by an illegal nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to stop all building work in the outpost, which was built on lands taken by Israel and illegally given to colonists.

Annexation Ambitions and International Response

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the administration to pursue de-facto incorporation. Recently, Smotrich headed a march of thousands of settlers in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We are continuing to establish presence with our presence of the territory with many settlers, numerous heroes, and countless of colonists who live in this area of the territory ... we need to normalize it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their supporters in the Knesset are explicit about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the Western nations refrain from substantial penalties and political actions? Smotrich was penalized by the United Kingdom in June, but the impact of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be permitted to travel to the UK and tour the London's entertainment district, but he still enjoys the governmental authority to take territories in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of penalties, the British government highlighted they take place "personally" only.

International Recognition and Reality

If the UK government recognizes the reality of colonist aggression and its grave implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still permit goods from settlements to be sold in markets and shops in the UK? If Starmer is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a state, how can he allow the Israeli administration to breach its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an hollow ploy to silence dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a hollow act only to be implemented in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward Genuine Resolution

A fair resolution must respect the basic rights of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, sovereignty, and freedom from military occupation and siege. Only when every human being's worth between the Jordan River and sea is honored can we truly say peace has been achieved.

Genuine peace requires an independent Palestinian state next to Israel: this is the only formula that enjoises consensus among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have applied pressure on the Israeli leader to stop the genocide, but he probably only did so because the burden of his connection with the pariah regime of Netanyahu had become too great. The mass protests across the world for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering anti-government protests inside the country, are the real factors behind this pressure.

It is due to this massive civil movement that a truce has been agreed, the captives freed, and the people of the territory can enjoy safeguard from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is vital to continue applying this pressure. The world has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in Gaza for many years; it must not make the same error in the West Bank.