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Last week, amid a joint address by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling for the acknowledgment of Palestine. We were forcibly ejected from the parliamentary session, exposing the weak state of what's often described as the "only democratic state in the Middle East". How can leaders talk about Middle East peace while refusing to acknowledge a people deprived of basic freedoms and rights under long-standing occupation?

The Reality in the Occupied West Bank

In no place is the deceit more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of peace sound remote and weak, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and intimidation persist strongly. More than 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been documented since the unveiling of the US peace proposal in late September, including physical assaults, stealing of agricultural produce, and burning of vehicles and belongings.

Systematic Violence During Harvest Season

The increase in settler terrorism is deliberate. This time signals the start of agricultural harvesting. Beyond a vital economic event, it constitutes an significant communal and cultural occasion that shows resilience under occupation. Precisely for these causes, year after year settlers target Palestinians throughout this precious time. During the 2024 harvest season, rights groups recorded 113 distinct incidents of aggression, harassment, harvest-thwarting, or damage to olive groves and produce involving Israeli civilians and military personnel, which occurred on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned communities, towns, and communities.

Israel's military seemed to have played a larger role in obstructing the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israeli security forces appeared to have had a larger role in hindering the olive harvest". In about 70% of instances where entry to lands was forcibly prevented, soldiers, border police officers, and settler civilian security coordinators were physically present. They either personally stopped Palestinians from reaching and gathering their own lands, or failed to prevent colonists who harassed or assaulted them.

Political Backing for Settler Activities

This comes as no surprise, as the leader of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an additional minister in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for instance, a special COGAT unit removed private olive plants of local residents, citing missing documentation, but ignored infractions by an unauthorized nearby settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to halt all building work in the encampment, which was built on property seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to settlers.

Takeover Ambitions and Global Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the government to achieve practical annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a procession of many of settlers in favor of taking over the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We persist to establish presence with our presence of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, many heroes, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who reside in this part of the land ... we need to normalise it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their backers in the parliament are clear about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations hesitate from meaningful penalties and political actions? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in June, but the impact of the sanction has been limited. He may not be permitted to go to the UK and tour the West End, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to take territories in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of penalties, the UK emphasized they apply "in his personal capacity" only.

Global Recognition and Reality

If the UK government acknowledges the truth of settler violence and its serious consequences on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be sold in stores and shops in Britain? If Starmer is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how come he allow the Israeli administration to violate its sovereignty with such violent means? Or was the recognition an hollow ploy to shut down opposition in the United Kingdom, a hollow act only to be implemented in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward True Resolution

A just resolution must respect the basic entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-determination, sovereignty, and freedom from occupation and blockade. Only when every person's worth across the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we genuinely declare peace has been attained.

True peace requires an sovereign Palestinian nation next to Israel: this is the only formula that has consensus among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

The former US president may have applied pressure on Netanyahu to stop the violence, but he likely only did so because the strain of his relationship with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become too great. The large demonstrations across the world for the liberation of Palestine, and the persistent anti-government demonstrations within Israel, are the real forces behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this massive civil movement that a ceasefire has been signed, the captives freed, and the residents of Gaza can experience safeguard from annihilation. Following the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is vital to keep maintaining this influence. The world has ignored to the atrocities in Gaza for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.