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Last Monday, amid a combined 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 acknowledgment of Palestine. We were violently ejected from the legislative session, exposing the weak condition of what's often portrayed as the "sole democratic state in the Middle East". How can leaders speak about regional peace while declining to recognize a population deprived of fundamental liberties and entitlements under decades-long occupation?

The Reality in the West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more evident than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of peace sound remote and weak, while the terrifying sounds of settler violence and terror persist loudly. Over 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the announcement of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in September's end, including physical assaults, theft of agricultural produce, and torching of cars and property.

Targeted Aggression During Harvest Season

The rise in violence by colonists is not coincidental. This time signals the start of harvest seasons. Beyond a vital economic activity, it represents an important communal and cultural moment that shows resilience under occupation. Exactly for these causes, annually settlers target Palestinians during this crucial time. During the last year's agricultural period, human rights organizations documented 113 distinct incidents of violence, harassment, preventing harvesting, or damage to olive trees and produce involving settlers and soldiers, which took place on lands owned by 51 Palestinian communities, municipalities, and communities.

Israel's military appeared to have played a larger role in hindering the harvesting season

The human rights group also found that "Israel's military seemed to have had a larger role in hindering the harvesting season". In about 70% of cases where access to farmland was violently prevented, troops, border police officers, and settlement security officials were physically present. They either personally stopped Palestinians from accessing and gathering their property, or failed to prevent colonists who threatened or attacked them.

Political Support for Settler Activities

This is no surprise, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra minister in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the territorial coordination unit. In one village, for instance, a special military coordination team uprooted personally-owned olive plants of local residents, claiming missing documentation, but ignored infractions by an unauthorized nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to halt all building work in the outpost, which was constructed on lands taken by Israeli authorities and illegally given to colonists.

Takeover Ambitions and International Response

In the controlled West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a tool used by the administration to achieve practical annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a procession of thousands of colonists in support of taking over the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We are continuing to establish presence with our presence of the Land of Israel with numerous settlers, many heroes, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who live in this area of the land ... we need to normalise it and make it eternal."

The settlers and their backers in the Knesset are explicit about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the west refrain from meaningful sanctions and political actions? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in June, but the impact of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be able to go to the United Kingdom 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 UK highlighted they apply "personally" only.

International Recognition and Reality

If the UK government acknowledges the reality of settler violence and its serious implications on Palestinian life, why does it still permit goods from settlements to be sold in stores and shops in the UK? If the British leader is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how can he allow the Israeli government to violate its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the acknowledgment an hollow ploy to silence opposition in the UK, a meaningless gesture only to be implemented in the relabeling of some maps?

Route Toward True Resolution

A fair resolution must honor the fundamental rights of the Palestinian population for self-determination, independence, and freedom from occupation and siege. Only when every human being's worth between the river and sea is respected can we truly say peace has been attained.

Genuine peace demands an sovereign Palestinian nation next to the Israeli state: this is the sole solution that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have inflicted pressure on Netanyahu to halt the genocide, but he likely only did so because the strain of his relationship with the pariah regime of Netanyahu had become excessive. The mass protests across the world for the freedom of Palestine, and the unwavering opposition protests inside Israel, are the actual forces behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this enormous civil movement that a truce has been signed, the captives freed, and the people of Gaza can enjoy safeguard from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is crucial to continue maintaining this pressure. The world has ignored to the atrocities in Gaza for many years; it must not make the same mistake in the occupied territories.