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Last week, during a joint speech by American leader Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, fellow parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling for the acknowledgment of Palestine. We were violently removed from the legislative assembly, revealing the weak state of what's frequently portrayed as the "sole democratic state in the Middle East". How can leaders talk about regional peace while refusing to acknowledge a population deprived of fundamental liberties and entitlements under decades-long occupation?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, words of peace sound distant and faint, while the frightening echoes of colonist attacks and intimidation persist strongly. More than 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinians have been recorded since the announcement of the US peace proposal in September's end, featuring attacks, stealing of agricultural produce, and burning of cars and property.

Systematic Violence During Agricultural Period

The rise in violence by colonists is not coincidental. This period marks the start of harvest seasons. More than a vital economic activity, it represents an important communal and national moment that shows endurance under military rule. Precisely for these causes, annually colonists target Palestinian farmers during this crucial period. During the 2024 harvest period, human rights organizations recorded 113 separate incidents of aggression, harassment, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive trees and crops involving Israeli civilians and soldiers, which occurred on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian communities, municipalities, and communities.

Israeli military seemed to have played a greater role in hindering the olive harvest

Yesh Din also found that "Israeli security forces appeared to have had a larger part in obstructing the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of instances where entry to farmland was forcibly blocked, troops, border police officers, and settlement security officials were actually present. They either directly stopped Palestinian farmers from reaching and harvesting their property, or failed to prevent settlers who threatened or attacked them.

Political Support for Colonization

This comes as no shock, as the leader of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra official in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for instance, a particular military coordination team removed private olive plants of Palestinians, claiming lack of permits, but ignored infractions by an unauthorized adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to halt all construction in the encampment, which was constructed on property seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to colonists.

Takeover Goals and Global Response

In the occupied West Bank, colonist violence is simply a instrument used by the government to pursue practical incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a procession of thousands of settlers in support of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We persist to take hold with our feet of the Land of Israel with many settlers, numerous champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who live in this part of the territory ... we must to normalise it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their backers in the Knesset are explicit about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the Western nations refrain from substantial penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in the summer, but the effect of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be permitted to travel to the UK and tour the West End, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to seize territories in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of sanctions, the British government emphasized they apply "in his personal capacity" solely.

International Acknowledgment and Reality

If the British administration acknowledges the reality of colonist aggression and its grave consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still allow settlement produce to be sold in markets and outlets in the UK? If the British leader is genuine about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a state, how come he allow the Israeli government to violate its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an hollow ploy to silence dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a hollow gesture only to be implemented in the relabeling of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward True Resolution

A just peace must respect the basic entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-determination, sovereignty, and freedom from military occupation and blockade. Only when each human being's worth between the river and sea is honored can we truly declare peace has been attained.

True peace requires an independent Palestinian nation next to the Israeli state: this is the only solution that enjoises consensus among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

The former US president may have applied influence on Netanyahu to stop the violence, but he probably only did so because the burden of his connection with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become too great. The mass protests throughout the globe for the freedom of Palestinian territories, and the persistent opposition demonstrations within Israel, are the actual factors behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this massive civil movement that a ceasefire has been signed, the captives freed, and the people of the territory can experience safeguard from destruction. After the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is crucial to keep applying this pressure. The international community has ignored to the atrocities in Gaza for many years; it must not make the same error in the West Bank.