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Last Monday, amid a joint address by American leader Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I displayed a banner calling for the recognition of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly ejected from the legislative session, exposing the weak condition of what's frequently portrayed as the "only democracy in the region". How can officials speak about regional peace while declining to recognize a people deprived of basic 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, talk of peace seem distant and weak, while the frightening sounds of colonist attacks and intimidation continue strongly. Over 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the announcement of the US peace proposal in late September, including physical assaults, stealing of agricultural produce, and torching of cars and property.

Systematic Violence During Agricultural Period

The rise in violence by colonists is not coincidental. This period marks the start of agricultural harvesting. More than a vital economic activity, it constitutes an significant social and national moment that demonstrates resilience under occupation. Precisely for these causes, year after year colonists target Palestinians throughout this precious time. During the last year's agricultural season, human rights organizations documented 113 separate cases of violence, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and crops involving Israeli civilians and military personnel, which took place on territories belonging to 51 Palestinian communities, municipalities, and communities.

Israel's security forces appeared to have played a greater role in obstructing the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's military seemed to have had a greater part in hindering the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of instances where access to farmland was violently prevented, troops, border police officers, and settlement civilian security coordinators were physically present. They either directly prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching and gathering their property, or neglected to stop colonists who harassed or attacked them.

Government Backing for Settler Activities

This comes as no shock, as the head of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an extra official in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the territorial coordination unit. In one village, for instance, a particular COGAT unit removed personally-owned olive trees of local residents, claiming lack of permits, but overlooked infractions by an illegal adjacent settler outpost. Last week, the local court decided to stop all construction in the encampment, which was constructed on property seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to colonists.

Takeover Ambitions and Global Response

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a instrument used by the administration to achieve practical annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a procession of thousands of colonists in support of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as stating, "We persist to take hold with our presence of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, many heroes, and hundreds of thousands of colonists 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 explicit about their motives and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the Western nations refrain from meaningful penalties and political actions? Smotrich was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in the summer, but the impact of the sanction has been limited. He may not be permitted to go to the United Kingdom and visit the West End, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to take lands in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of penalties, the British government highlighted they apply "in his personal capacity" only.

International Recognition and Actual Situation

If the British administration acknowledges the truth of settler violence and its serious consequences on Palestinian existence, why does it still permit settlement produce to be marketed in stores and shops in the UK? If Starmer is serious about recognition of Palestine as a state, how come he allow the Israeli government to breach its independence with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an empty ploy to shut down dissenting voices in the UK, a meaningless act only to be implemented in the relabeling of some cartographic representations?

Pathway to Genuine Resolution

A fair resolution must respect the basic entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-recognition, sovereignty, and freedom from military occupation and siege. Only when every person's dignity between the river and sea is respected can we truly declare peace has been achieved.

True resolution demands an sovereign Palestinian state alongside the Israeli state: this is the only solution that enjoises consensus among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace camp.

Trump may have inflicted influence on Netanyahu to halt the genocide, but he likely only did so because the burden of his relationship with the pariah regime of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The mass protests across the world for the liberation of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering opposition demonstrations inside the country, are the real factors behind this pressure.

It is due to this massive civil movement that a truce has been signed, the captives freed, and the people of Gaza can enjoy protection from destruction. After the ceasefire agreement has been signed, it is crucial to continue maintaining this pressure. The international community has turned a blind eye to the violence in the strip for many years; it must not make the same error in the West Bank.