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Last week, amid a combined speech by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, colleague parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign urging the acknowledgment of Palestine. We were violently removed from the parliamentary assembly, revealing the fragile state of what's often described as the "sole democracy in the region". How can officials speak about regional peace while refusing to recognize a people deprived of fundamental freedoms and entitlements under long-standing military control?

The Reality in the West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation seem remote and faint, while the frightening sounds of settler violence and terror continue loudly. Over 30 occurrences of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's peace proposal in late September, including physical assaults, stealing of agricultural produce, and torching of cars and property.

Targeted Violence During Agricultural Period

The increase in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period marks the start of harvest seasons. Beyond a vital economic event, it constitutes an important communal and cultural occasion that demonstrates resilience under military rule. Exactly for these reasons, annually colonists attack Palestinian farmers throughout this crucial period. During the last year's agricultural season, rights groups recorded 113 distinct cases of aggression, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive trees and produce by Israeli civilians and military personnel, which occurred on territories belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned communities, towns, and areas.

Israel's military seemed to have played a larger role in obstructing the olive harvest

Yesh Din also found that "Israel's security forces seemed to have had a greater part in hindering the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of instances where entry to farmland was violently blocked, soldiers, border police officers, and settlement civilian security coordinators were actually present. They either personally stopped Palestinian farmers from accessing and gathering their own lands, or failed to prevent settlers who harassed or assaulted them.

Political Backing for Settler Activities

This comes as no shock, as the leader of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra minister in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for instance, a particular military coordination team removed personally-owned olive trees of local residents, citing missing documentation, but ignored infractions by an unauthorized nearby settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to stop all construction in the outpost, which was built on lands seized by Israel and illegally given to colonists.

Annexation Goals and International Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is simply a tool used by the administration to pursue de-facto incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a march of thousands of settlers in support of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our presence of the territory with numerous settlers, numerous heroes, and countless of colonists who reside in this part of the territory ... we need to normalise it and establish it permanently."

The colonists and their supporters in the Knesset are explicit about their motives and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the Western nations refrain from substantial sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in the summer, but the impact of the sanction has been limited. He may not be able to go to the United Kingdom and tour the West End, but he still maintains the ministerial power to take territories in the West Bank. Remarkably in the announcement of sanctions, the UK emphasized they apply "in his personal capacity" solely.

Global Recognition and Actual Situation

If the UK government acknowledges the reality of settler violence and its grave implications on Palestinian life, why does it still allow settlement produce to be sold in markets and shops in Britain? If Starmer is serious about recognition of Palestine as a state, how come he permit the Israeli administration to violate its sovereignty with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an empty tactic to shut down opposition in the United Kingdom, a meaningless gesture only to be realised in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Pathway to True Resolution

A just resolution must respect the basic entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-determination, independence, and liberty from military occupation and blockade. Only when every person's worth across the river and sea is respected can we genuinely declare reconciliation has been achieved.

Genuine peace requires an independent Palestinian nation next to Israel: this is the only solution that enjoises agreement among the international community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

Trump may have inflicted influence on the Israeli leader to stop the violence, but he probably only did so because the strain of his relationship with the pariah regime of the Israeli PM had become too great. The large demonstrations across the globe for the freedom of Palestine, and the unwavering opposition protests within Israel, are the real forces behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this massive civil movement that a ceasefire has been signed, the hostages released, and the residents of Gaza can experience protection from annihilation. After the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is crucial to keep maintaining this pressure. The international community has ignored to the atrocities in Gaza for many years; it must not make the same mistake in the West Bank.