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Last week, during a joint address by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign urging the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly removed from the legislative session, exposing the fragile condition of what's often portrayed as the "only democratic state in the region". How can leaders talk about regional peace while refusing to recognize a population deprived of basic liberties and rights under decades-long occupation?

The Reality in the West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more evident than in the controlled West Bank. There, words of peace sound distant and faint, while the frightening sounds of colonist attacks and intimidation persist loudly. Over 30 occurrences of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been recorded since the unveiling of the Trump administration's 20-point plan in September's end, featuring physical assaults, theft of agricultural produce, and burning of vehicles and belongings.

Systematic Violence During Agricultural Period

The rise in settler terrorism is deliberate. This period signals the start of harvest seasons. More than a vital economic activity, it represents an important communal and cultural occasion that shows endurance under military rule. Precisely for these reasons, annually settlers attack Palestinian farmers throughout this precious period. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations documented 113 separate cases of aggression, harassment, preventing harvesting, or damage to olive trees and produce by settlers and military personnel, which occurred on territories owned by 51 Palestinian-owned communities, municipalities, and areas.

Israeli security forces appeared to have had a larger role in hindering the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's security forces appeared to have had a larger role in obstructing the olive harvest". In about 70% of instances where entry to farmland was forcibly blocked, soldiers, border police officers, and settlement civilian security coordinators were actually present. They either personally prevented Palestinians from accessing and gathering their property, or neglected to stop colonists who threatened or attacked them.

Government Backing for Colonization

This comes as no surprise, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra official in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In Umm al-Khair, for instance, a particular military coordination team removed personally-owned olive plants of Palestinians, claiming lack of permits, but overlooked infractions by an illegal adjacent settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court ruled to stop all construction in the outpost, which was constructed on lands taken by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to settlers.

Takeover Ambitions and Global Response

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a tool used by the administration to pursue practical incorporation. Recently, Smotrich headed a procession of thousands of colonists in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We persist to establish presence with our presence of the territory with numerous settlers, many heroes, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who reside in this area of the land ... we must to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The colonists and their backers in the parliament are clear about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do political leaders in the west hesitate from meaningful penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in the summer, but the impact of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be able to go to the United Kingdom and visit the West End, but he still maintains the ministerial power to seize lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of penalties, the British government highlighted they take place "personally" only.

Global Recognition and Reality

If the British administration recognizes the reality of colonist aggression and its serious implications on Palestinian life, why does it still permit goods from settlements to be sold in markets and outlets in the UK? If Starmer is serious about recognition of Palestine as a state, how can he permit the Israeli administration to violate its sovereignty with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an hollow ploy to shut down dissenting voices in the UK, a hollow act only to be realised in the relabeling of some maps?

Pathway to True Resolution

A fair resolution must honor the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people for self-determination, independence, and liberty from military occupation and siege. Only when each person's worth between the Jordan River and sea is honored can we genuinely declare peace has been attained.

Genuine resolution requires an sovereign Palestinian nation next to the Israeli state: this is the only solution that has agreement among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have inflicted pressure on Netanyahu to stop the genocide, but he likely only did so because the burden of his connection with the pariah regime of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The large demonstrations throughout the world for the liberation of Palestine, and the unwavering anti-government protests inside the country, are the actual forces behind this pressure.

It is due to this massive public campaign that a ceasefire has been agreed, the captives released, and the people of the territory can enjoy protection from annihilation. Following the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is vital to continue applying this pressure. The international community has ignored to the violence in Gaza for many years; it must not make the same error in the West Bank.