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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 banner calling for the recognition of Palestine. We were violently removed from the legislative assembly, revealing the fragile condition of what's often portrayed as the "sole democratic state in the region". How can leaders speak about regional peace while refusing to acknowledge a population deprived of fundamental liberties and rights under long-standing occupation?

The Reality in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more apparent than in the occupied West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation sound distant and faint, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and intimidation persist loudly. More than 30 occurrences of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the announcement of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in late September, including attacks, stealing of agricultural produce, and torching of cars and belongings.

Targeted Aggression During Harvest Season

The rise in violence by colonists is deliberate. This time signals the start of harvest seasons. More than a crucial economic event, it constitutes an important communal and national occasion that shows resilience under military rule. Exactly for these reasons, year after year settlers target Palestinians throughout this crucial period. During the last year's agricultural season, human rights organizations documented 113 distinct incidents of aggression, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive groves and produce involving settlers and military personnel, which occurred on territories owned by 51 Palestinian villages, towns, and areas.

Israel's security forces seemed to have played a larger part in hindering the harvesting season

The human rights group also found that "Israel's military appeared to have had a greater role in hindering the olive harvest". In about 70% of cases where entry to farmland was violently blocked, troops, border police officers, and settler security officials were physically present. They either personally stopped Palestinian farmers from reaching and harvesting their property, or failed to prevent settlers who threatened or assaulted them.

Political Support for Colonization

This comes as no surprise, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra official in the Defense Ministry responsible for the territorial coordination unit. In one village, for example, a particular military coordination team uprooted personally-owned olive plants of local residents, claiming missing documentation, but overlooked infractions by an illegal adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to halt all construction in the encampment, which was built on property seized by Israel and unlawfully given to colonists.

Annexation Goals and International Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a instrument used by the government to pursue practical incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a march of many of colonists in support of taking over the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We persist to take hold with our feet of the territory with many settlers, many heroes, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who live in this part of the territory ... we need to normalize it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their backers in the parliament are clear about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the Western nations hesitate from substantial sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in June, but the impact of the penalty has been limited. He may not be permitted to travel to the UK and tour 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 highlighted they apply "personally" only.

Global Recognition and Actual Situation

If the British administration recognizes the reality of colonist aggression and its serious implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow 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 come he permit the Israeli government to violate its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an empty ploy to shut down opposition in the United Kingdom, a hollow gesture only to be realised in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward Genuine Resolution

A fair peace must honor the basic rights of the Palestinian people for self-determination, sovereignty, and liberty from military occupation and siege. Only when each human being's worth across the Jordan River and sea is honored can we truly declare peace has been achieved.

True peace demands an sovereign Palestinian state alongside the Israeli state: this is the only formula that enjoises agreement among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have applied influence on Netanyahu to halt the genocide, but he probably only did so because the burden of his relationship with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The large demonstrations across the globe for the liberation of Palestinian territories, and the persistent anti-government protests within the country, are the actual forces behind this influence.

It is due to this enormous public campaign that a truce has been agreed, the captives released, and the residents of the territory can enjoy protection from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is vital to continue maintaining this influence. The world has ignored to the atrocities in Gaza for too long; it must not repeat the same mistake in the occupied territories.