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Last Monday, during a joint address by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign calling for the recognition of Palestine. We were forcibly ejected from the parliamentary assembly, revealing the weak state of what's often described as the "sole democracy in the region". How can officials talk about Middle East peace while declining to acknowledge a population denied of fundamental liberties and entitlements under decades-long military control?

The Reality in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the deceit more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, words of reconciliation sound remote and faint, while the terrifying sounds of settler violence and terror continue strongly. Over 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been documented since the unveiling of the US 20-point plan in late September, including physical assaults, theft of crops, and torching of vehicles and belongings.

Targeted Violence During Harvest Season

The rise in settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period marks the start of agricultural harvesting. Beyond a crucial economic activity, it represents an important social and national occasion that shows resilience under occupation. Precisely for these causes, annually settlers attack Palestinians throughout this precious period. During the 2024 harvest period, human rights organizations recorded 113 distinct cases of aggression, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive groves and crops by Israeli civilians and soldiers, which occurred on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian villages, municipalities, and communities.

Israeli security forces appeared to have had a larger role in obstructing the olive harvest

The human rights group also discovered that "Israeli military appeared to have had a greater part in obstructing the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of instances where entry to lands was forcibly blocked, soldiers, border guards, and settlement civilian security coordinators were physically present. They either personally stopped Palestinians from reaching and gathering their own lands, or neglected to stop settlers who threatened or assaulted them.

Political Support for Colonization

This is no shock, as the leader of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of the territorial coordination unit. In Umm al-Khair, for instance, a special COGAT unit uprooted personally-owned olive plants of Palestinians, claiming missing documentation, but overlooked violations by an unauthorized adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the local court ruled to stop all construction in the outpost, which was constructed on lands seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to colonists.

Annexation Ambitions and Global Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a tool used by the administration to pursue de-facto annexation. Recently, Smotrich headed a march of many of settlers in support of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We are continuing to establish presence with our presence of the territory with many pioneers, numerous heroes, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who live in this area of the territory ... we must to normalise it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their backers in the Knesset are explicit about their motives and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the west refrain from substantial sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in June, but the effect of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be permitted to travel to the United Kingdom and visit the West End, but he still maintains the ministerial power to take territories in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of penalties, the UK emphasized they apply "in his personal capacity" solely.

International Acknowledgment and Actual Situation

If the UK government acknowledges the reality of settler violence and its serious consequences on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow settlement produce to be marketed in stores and shops in the UK? If Starmer is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a state, how come he allow the Israeli administration to violate its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an hollow tactic to silence opposition in the United Kingdom, a meaningless act only to be realised in the relabeling of some maps?

Pathway to Genuine Resolution

A fair peace must honor the fundamental rights of the Palestinian population for self-recognition, independence, and liberty from occupation and siege. Only when every person's dignity between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we truly declare reconciliation has been achieved.

Genuine resolution demands an sovereign Palestinian nation alongside Israel: this is the only formula that has agreement among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have applied influence on the Israeli leader to halt the violence, but he probably only did so because the burden of his relationship with the isolated government of the Israeli PM had become too great. The large demonstrations throughout the globe for the liberation of Palestine, and the unwavering opposition demonstrations inside the country, are the real forces behind this pressure.

It is due to this massive public campaign that a truce has been signed, the captives released, and the people of Gaza can experience safeguard from destruction. After the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is vital to keep maintaining this pressure. The world has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in Gaza for many years; it must not make the same error in the occupied territories.