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Last Monday, amid a joint speech by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign calling for the recognition of Palestine. We were violently removed from the legislative assembly, exposing the fragile state of what's often portrayed as the "only democracy in the region". How can officials speak about Middle East peace while refusing to acknowledge a people deprived of fundamental liberties and entitlements under long-standing military control?

The Situation in the Occupied West Bank

In no place is the deceit more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, words of reconciliation seem distant and faint, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and terror continue strongly. Over 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the announcement of the US peace proposal in September's end, including attacks, theft of crops, and burning of cars and belongings.

Targeted Violence During Harvest Season

The rise in violence by colonists is deliberate. This time signals the start of agricultural harvesting. More than a vital economic event, it represents an important social and national moment that shows resilience under military rule. Exactly for these causes, year after year colonists attack Palestinian farmers throughout this crucial time. During the 2024 harvest season, rights groups documented 113 distinct incidents of aggression, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and crops by Israeli civilians and military personnel, which occurred on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian communities, towns, and areas.

Israeli security forces seemed to have had a larger part in obstructing the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's military appeared to have had a greater part in obstructing the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of instances where entry to farmland was forcibly prevented, troops, border guards, and settler security officials were physically present. They either personally stopped Palestinians from accessing and gathering their own lands, or neglected to prevent colonists who harassed or assaulted them.

Government Backing for Settler Activities

This is no shock, as the leader of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra official in the Defense Ministry in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for instance, a particular military coordination team removed personally-owned olive trees of Palestinians, citing missing documentation, but ignored violations by an illegal adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the local court decided to stop all building work in the encampment, which was constructed on lands seized by Israeli authorities and illegally given to settlers.

Takeover Goals and Global Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a tool used by the government to pursue de-facto incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a procession of many of colonists in support of taking over the West Bank. He was reported as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our feet of the Land of Israel with many settlers, numerous heroes, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who live in this part of the land ... we need to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The colonists and their supporters in the parliament are clear about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the west refrain from substantial sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in June, but the effect of the penalty has been limited. He may not be able to travel to the UK and tour the West End, but he still enjoys the governmental authority to take territories in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of penalties, the British government emphasized they take place "in his personal capacity" solely.

Global Acknowledgment and Actual Situation

If the British administration acknowledges the reality of colonist aggression and its grave implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be sold in markets and outlets in Britain? If the British leader is serious about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how can he permit the Israeli administration to breach its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the acknowledgment an hollow ploy to silence dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a meaningless gesture only to be realised in the relabeling of some maps?

Pathway to Genuine Peace

A just peace must respect the fundamental entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-determination, independence, and freedom from military occupation and siege. Only when each person's dignity between the river and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we genuinely say reconciliation has been achieved.

Genuine resolution requires an sovereign Palestinian nation alongside the Israeli state: this is the only solution that has agreement among the international community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

Trump may have applied influence on Netanyahu 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 too great. The mass protests throughout the world for the freedom of Palestine, and the persistent anti-government protests within Israel, are the actual forces behind this influence.

It is thanks to this massive civil movement that a truce has been signed, the hostages freed, and the people of Gaza can experience safeguard from annihilation. Following the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is vital to continue maintaining this influence. The international community has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in Gaza for too long; it must not make the same mistake in the West Bank.