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Last Monday, during a joint address by American leader Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I displayed a banner calling for the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly removed from the legislative assembly, revealing the fragile condition of what's often described as the "sole democracy in the Middle East". How can officials speak about Middle East peace while refusing to acknowledge a people deprived of basic freedoms and entitlements under decades-long occupation?

The Situation in the West Bank

In no place is the deceit more apparent than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of reconciliation sound distant and weak, while the frightening echoes of settler violence and intimidation persist loudly. Over 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been documented since the announcement of the US 20-point plan in late September, including attacks, stealing of agricultural produce, and torching of cars and property.

Systematic Aggression During Harvest Season

The rise in settler terrorism is deliberate. This period signals the start of agricultural harvesting. More than a vital economic event, it constitutes an significant communal and national moment that shows resilience under military rule. Precisely for these causes, annually settlers target Palestinians during this crucial period. During the last year's agricultural period, rights groups recorded 113 separate incidents of aggression, harassment, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and produce involving Israeli civilians and military personnel, which occurred on territories owned by 51 Palestinian-owned communities, municipalities, and communities.

Israel's military seemed to have had a greater part in hindering the olive harvest

Yesh Din also found that "Israeli military seemed to have had a greater role in hindering the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of cases where access to lands was forcibly prevented, troops, border police officers, and settler security officials were physically on site. They either directly prevented Palestinians from accessing and harvesting their own lands, or neglected to prevent colonists who threatened or assaulted them.

Political Backing for Colonization

This comes as no shock, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra minister in the Defense Ministry responsible for the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for instance, a particular COGAT unit uprooted private olive plants of Palestinians, claiming missing documentation, but overlooked violations by an unauthorized adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to halt all building work in the outpost, which was built on lands seized by Israel and illegally transferred to settlers.

Takeover Goals and Global Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a tool used by the administration to pursue practical annexation. Recently, Smotrich led a procession of many of colonists in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We persist to establish presence with our feet of the territory with many settlers, many heroes, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who live in this area of the land ... we must to normalize it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their backers in the Knesset are clear about their intentions and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the west refrain from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in June, but the effect of the penalty has been limited. He may not be able to travel to the United Kingdom and tour the London's entertainment district, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to seize territories in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of penalties, the UK highlighted they apply "in his personal capacity" solely.

International Acknowledgment and Reality

If the British administration recognizes the reality of colonist aggression and its grave consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be marketed in stores and outlets in the UK? If the British leader is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a state, how come he permit the Israeli administration to violate its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an hollow ploy to shut down dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a meaningless gesture only to be implemented in the rebranding of some maps?

Pathway to True Peace

A just peace must respect the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people for self-determination, independence, and liberty from military occupation and siege. Only when every person's dignity across the river and Mediterranean Sea is honored can we truly say peace has been attained.

Genuine peace requires an independent Palestinian nation alongside the Israeli state: this is the only solution that enjoises agreement among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have inflicted influence on the Israeli leader to stop the genocide, 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 throughout the globe for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the persistent anti-government protests inside Israel, are the real forces behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this enormous public campaign that a truce has been signed, the hostages freed, and the residents of Gaza can experience protection from destruction. Following the truce arrangement has been signed, it is vital to continue applying this pressure. The world has turned a blind eye to the violence in Gaza for too long; it must not make the same error in the West Bank.