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Last Monday, amid a combined speech by American leader Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign urging the recognition of Palestine. We were violently removed from the legislative session, exposing the fragile state of what's often described as the "sole democratic state in the region". How can leaders speak about Middle East peace while declining to acknowledge a people denied of fundamental liberties and rights under decades-long military control?

The Reality in the Occupied West Bank

In no place is the hypocrisy more evident than in the occupied West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation seem remote and faint, while the terrifying echoes of colonist attacks and intimidation continue strongly. 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 physical assaults, theft of agricultural produce, and torching of vehicles and belongings.

Targeted Violence During Harvest Season

The rise in settler terrorism is deliberate. This period marks the start of agricultural harvesting. More than a vital economic event, it represents an important social and national moment that shows resilience under military rule. Precisely for these reasons, year after year colonists attack Palestinian farmers during this crucial period. During the 2024 harvest period, human rights organizations recorded 113 distinct incidents of aggression, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive groves and crops by settlers and soldiers, which occurred on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned villages, towns, and areas.

Israel's security forces appeared to have had a greater role in hindering the olive harvest

The human rights group also found that "Israeli military seemed to have had a greater part in obstructing the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of cases where entry to farmland was violently blocked, troops, border guards, and settler security officials were actually present. They either directly prevented Palestinian farmers from accessing and gathering their property, or failed to prevent settlers who harassed or attacked them.

Political Support for Settler Activities

This is no surprise, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra minister in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for example, a particular military coordination team removed private olive plants of local residents, citing lack of permits, but overlooked infractions by an illegal adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the local court ruled to halt all building work in the outpost, which was built on property taken by Israeli authorities and illegally given to colonists.

Annexation Ambitions and International Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a instrument used by the administration to achieve practical annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a march of thousands of colonists in support of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We are continuing to establish presence with our feet of the territory with numerous pioneers, numerous champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who live in this part of the land ... we must to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The colonists and their supporters in the Knesset are explicit about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations refrain from substantial sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in the summer, but the effect of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be permitted to go to the UK and visit the West End, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to take territories in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of sanctions, the British government highlighted they apply "personally" solely.

International Recognition and Actual Situation

If the UK government acknowledges the truth of colonist aggression and its serious consequences on Palestinian life, 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 state, how can he allow the Israeli government to breach its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an hollow tactic to silence dissenting voices in the UK, a meaningless act only to be implemented in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward True Peace

A fair peace must honor the basic rights of the Palestinian population for self-determination, sovereignty, and freedom from military occupation and siege. Only when each human being's worth between the Jordan River and sea is honored can we genuinely say reconciliation has been attained.

True resolution demands an sovereign Palestinian nation next to the Israeli state: this is the only formula that has agreement among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have applied pressure on the Israeli leader to stop the genocide, but he likely only did so because the burden of his relationship with the pariah regime of Netanyahu had become excessive. The mass protests throughout the globe for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering opposition demonstrations within the country, are the actual forces behind this pressure.

It is due to this enormous public campaign that a truce has been signed, the hostages released, and the residents of the territory can experience safeguard from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is vital to continue maintaining this pressure. The international community has turned a blind eye to the violence in the strip for many years; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.