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Last week, amid a combined speech by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign calling for the acknowledgment of Palestine. We were violently removed from the legislative session, revealing the weak condition of what's often portrayed as the "sole democracy in the Middle East". How can officials talk about Middle East peace while declining to recognize a people denied of fundamental freedoms and entitlements under decades-long military control?

The Reality in the West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more apparent than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of reconciliation seem remote and faint, while the terrifying sounds of settler violence and terror persist loudly. More than 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been documented since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in September's end, featuring attacks, theft of agricultural produce, and burning of vehicles and belongings.

Systematic Violence During Agricultural Period

The increase in violence by colonists is deliberate. This period signals the beginning of agricultural harvesting. Beyond a vital economic activity, it represents an significant social and national occasion that demonstrates endurance under military rule. Exactly for these causes, year after year settlers attack Palestinians during this precious time. During the last year's agricultural period, rights groups documented 113 distinct cases of violence, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive trees and produce by Israeli civilians and military personnel, which took place on territories belonging to 51 Palestinian communities, towns, and communities.

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

Yesh Din also found that "Israel's military appeared to have had a larger part in hindering the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of instances where entry to lands was violently prevented, soldiers, border guards, and settler security officials were physically on site. They either directly prevented Palestinians from reaching and gathering their own lands, or neglected to prevent settlers who harassed or attacked them.

Political Backing for Colonization

This is no shock, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra official in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In one village, for instance, a special military coordination team uprooted private olive plants of local residents, claiming missing documentation, but overlooked violations by an unauthorized adjacent settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to halt all building work in the encampment, which was constructed on property seized by Israel and illegally transferred to settlers.

Takeover Ambitions and Global Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a tool used by the administration to pursue practical annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a march of many of settlers in support of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We are continuing to establish presence with our feet of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, many champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who reside in this area of the territory ... we must to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The colonists and their backers in the parliament are explicit about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do political leaders in the west hesitate from substantial sanctions and political actions? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in the summer, but the impact of the penalty has been limited. He may not be permitted to travel to the UK and visit the West End, but he still maintains the ministerial power to take lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of sanctions, the UK highlighted they apply "in his personal capacity" only.

International Recognition and Reality

If the UK government acknowledges the reality of settler violence and its grave consequences on Palestinian life, why does it still permit settlement produce to be sold in markets and outlets in Britain? If Starmer is serious about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how come he allow the Israeli government to violate its independence with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an empty tactic to silence dissenting voices in the United Kingdom, a meaningless act only to be realised in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward Genuine Resolution

A fair resolution must respect the fundamental entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, sovereignty, and freedom from occupation and siege. Only when every person's worth across the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is honored can we truly say reconciliation has been achieved.

Genuine peace demands an independent Palestinian state next to the Israeli state: this is the sole solution that enjoises agreement among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace camp.

Trump may have inflicted pressure on Netanyahu to stop the genocide, but he probably only did so because the burden of his relationship with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become too great. The mass protests throughout the globe for the freedom of Palestine, and the persistent anti-government protests within the country, are the actual forces behind this pressure.

It is due to this enormous public campaign that a ceasefire has been agreed, the captives freed, and the people of the territory can enjoy safeguard from annihilation. Following the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is crucial to keep maintaining this influence. The world has ignored to the violence in the strip for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.