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Last Monday, during a combined address by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign calling for the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly removed from the parliamentary session, revealing the weak condition of what's often portrayed as the "only democracy in the Middle East". How can leaders talk about regional peace while refusing to acknowledge a people denied of fundamental liberties and entitlements under long-standing military control?

The Reality in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more apparent than in the occupied West Bank. There, talk of peace seem remote and weak, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and intimidation continue loudly. More than 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinians have been recorded since the unveiling of the US peace proposal in September's end, featuring physical assaults, stealing of crops, and burning of cars and belongings.

Targeted Violence During Agricultural Period

The rise in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This time signals the beginning of agricultural harvesting. More than a crucial economic activity, it constitutes an important social and national occasion that shows resilience under occupation. Exactly for these causes, year after year colonists attack Palestinians throughout this crucial period. During the last year's agricultural season, human rights organizations recorded 113 separate incidents of aggression, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive trees and produce involving settlers and soldiers, which occurred on territories belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned villages, municipalities, and communities.

Israel's security forces seemed to have played a greater role in hindering the olive harvest

Yesh Din also found that "Israel's military seemed to have played a greater part in hindering the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of instances where access to lands was forcibly prevented, soldiers, border police officers, and settlement security officials were physically present. They either directly stopped Palestinian farmers from reaching and harvesting their own lands, or neglected to stop colonists who threatened or attacked them.

Political Backing for Colonization

This is no shock, as the leader 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 particular COGAT unit removed personally-owned olive plants of local residents, claiming lack of permits, but ignored violations by an illegal nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the local court decided to stop all building work in the encampment, which was constructed on property taken by Israeli authorities and illegally transferred to settlers.

Takeover Goals and International Response

In the controlled West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a instrument used by the government to pursue practical incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a procession of many of colonists in support of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We persist to take hold with our presence of the territory with many settlers, numerous champions, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who reside in this part of the territory ... we need to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The colonists and their supporters in the parliament are clear about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the west hesitate from meaningful penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in the summer, but the impact of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be permitted to go to the UK and tour the West End, but he still maintains the governmental authority to seize lands in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of penalties, the British government highlighted they take place "in his personal capacity" only.

Global Acknowledgment and Reality

If the UK government recognizes the reality of settler violence and its serious consequences on Palestinian existence, why does it still permit settlement produce to be marketed in stores and outlets in Britain? If the British leader is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how can he permit the Israeli government to violate its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an hollow tactic to silence opposition in the UK, a meaningless act only to be implemented in the relabeling of some maps?

Route Toward Genuine Peace

A just resolution must honor the fundamental entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-determination, sovereignty, and freedom from occupation and blockade. Only when every human being's worth across the river and sea is honored can we genuinely declare peace has been achieved.

True resolution requires an sovereign Palestinian nation alongside Israel: this is the sole formula that has consensus among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have inflicted pressure on Netanyahu to halt the genocide, but he probably only did so because the strain of his relationship with the pariah regime of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The large demonstrations throughout the globe for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering anti-government demonstrations within the country, are the actual forces behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this enormous public campaign that a ceasefire has been agreed, the hostages freed, and the residents of Gaza can enjoy protection from destruction. Following the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is crucial to keep maintaining this influence. The international community has ignored to the atrocities in the strip for many years; it must not make the same mistake in the occupied territories.