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Last Monday, during a combined address by American leader Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, colleague parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign urging the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly ejected from the parliamentary session, exposing the fragile state of what's frequently described as the "only democracy in the region". How can officials talk about regional peace while declining to acknowledge a population denied of fundamental liberties and rights under long-standing military control?

The Reality in the West Bank

In no place is the hypocrisy more evident than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of reconciliation seem distant and weak, while the frightening echoes of colonist attacks and terror continue strongly. More than 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been recorded since the announcement of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in September's end, featuring physical assaults, stealing of crops, and burning of cars and property.

Systematic Violence During Harvest Season

The increase in violence by colonists is deliberate. This time marks the start of agricultural harvesting. More than a vital economic event, it represents an important communal and national occasion that shows endurance under occupation. Precisely for these reasons, annually colonists attack Palestinians during this precious time. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations recorded 113 distinct incidents of aggression, harassment, preventing harvesting, or damage to olive trees and crops involving Israeli civilians and soldiers, which occurred on territories owned by 51 Palestinian communities, municipalities, and areas.

Israeli military seemed to have had a larger role in obstructing the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's military appeared to have played a larger role in hindering the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of instances where entry to lands was forcibly prevented, soldiers, border guards, and settler civilian security coordinators were physically present. They either directly prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching and gathering their own lands, or neglected to prevent settlers who harassed or assaulted them.

Government Backing for Colonization

This is no shock, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an additional minister in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the territorial coordination unit. In one village, for instance, a particular COGAT unit uprooted private olive trees of local residents, citing lack of permits, but ignored violations by an unauthorized adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the local court ruled to stop all construction in the outpost, which was constructed on lands seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to settlers.

Takeover Ambitions and International Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is simply a instrument used by the administration to pursue practical annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a march of thousands of colonists in favor of taking over the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our feet of the territory with numerous settlers, many heroes, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who reside in this area of the territory ... we must to normalise it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their supporters in the Knesset are clear about their motives and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations hesitate from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the United Kingdom in June, but the effect of the penalty 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 lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the announcement of penalties, the British government emphasized they take place "personally" solely.

International Acknowledgment and Actual Situation

If the British administration recognizes the truth of colonist aggression and its serious consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still permit goods from settlements to be sold in stores and shops in Britain? If the British leader is serious about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how come he permit the Israeli government to violate its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an empty tactic to shut down opposition in the UK, a hollow gesture only to be realised in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward True Resolution

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

True resolution demands an independent Palestinian nation next to Israel: this is the sole formula that enjoises consensus among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have applied influence on the Israeli leader to halt the genocide, but he likely only did so because the burden of his connection with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The mass protests throughout the world for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering anti-government demonstrations within the country, are the actual factors behind this pressure.

It is due to this enormous civil movement that a ceasefire has been signed, the hostages released, and the people of the territory can enjoy safeguard from annihilation. Following the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is vital to keep applying this pressure. The world has ignored to the atrocities in the strip for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the West Bank.