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Last week, during a joint address by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, fellow parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I displayed a banner urging the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly ejected from the legislative session, exposing the weak condition of what's often portrayed as the "sole democratic state in the region". How can leaders talk about Middle East peace while refusing to acknowledge a people deprived of basic liberties and rights under long-standing military control?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

In no place is the hypocrisy more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, words of peace seem remote and weak, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and terror persist loudly. More than 30 occurrences of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been documented since the unveiling of the US peace proposal in late September, featuring attacks, stealing of agricultural produce, and torching of vehicles and property.

Systematic Violence During Agricultural Period

The rise in settler terrorism is deliberate. This period signals the beginning of harvest seasons. Beyond a vital economic activity, it constitutes an significant communal and national moment that shows endurance under occupation. Exactly for these causes, annually colonists attack Palestinians throughout this crucial time. During the 2024 harvest season, rights groups documented 113 separate cases of aggression, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and crops involving Israeli civilians and military personnel, which took place on lands owned by 51 Palestinian-owned communities, towns, and communities.

Israeli military appeared to have played a larger part in obstructing the harvesting season

The human rights group also found that "Israeli military appeared to have had a greater part in obstructing the harvesting season". In about 70% of cases where entry to farmland was forcibly blocked, soldiers, border police officers, and settlement civilian security coordinators were physically on site. They either directly stopped Palestinian farmers from reaching and harvesting their own lands, or neglected to stop settlers who threatened or assaulted them.

Political Backing for Colonization

This is no shock, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an additional minister in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the territorial coordination unit. In one village, for example, a special COGAT unit removed personally-owned olive trees of local residents, claiming missing documentation, but ignored infractions by an illegal adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the local court decided to halt all construction in the outpost, which was constructed on property taken by Israeli authorities and illegally given to colonists.

Takeover Goals and International Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a instrument used by the government to pursue de-facto annexation. Recently, Smotrich led a procession of many of colonists in support of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as saying, "We are continuing to take hold with our feet of the Land of Israel with numerous pioneers, numerous champions, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who reside in this area of the territory ... we need to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their supporters in the parliament are clear about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations refrain from substantial penalties and political actions? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in June, but the effect of the sanction has been limited. He may not be permitted to travel to the UK and tour the West End, but he still maintains the ministerial power to seize lands in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of penalties, the UK highlighted they apply "personally" solely.

International Recognition and Reality

If the UK government recognizes the reality of colonist aggression and its grave consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still permit goods from settlements to be marketed in markets and outlets in Britain? If Starmer is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how come he allow the Israeli administration to breach its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an empty tactic to silence opposition in the UK, a meaningless gesture only to be implemented in the relabeling of some maps?

Pathway to True Peace

A fair resolution must respect the basic entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, independence, and freedom from occupation and siege. Only when every person's worth between the Jordan River and sea is respected can we truly declare peace has been attained.

Genuine resolution demands an independent Palestinian nation alongside the Israeli state: this is the sole formula that enjoises agreement among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace camp.

Trump may have inflicted pressure on the Israeli leader to stop the genocide, but he likely only did so because the strain of his connection with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become too great. The large demonstrations across the globe for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering anti-government protests inside the country, are the real forces behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this enormous public campaign that a truce has been agreed, the captives freed, and the people of the territory can experience protection from annihilation. Following the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is vital to continue applying this pressure. The international community has ignored to the atrocities in Gaza for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the West Bank.