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Last week, amid a combined address by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, fellow lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I displayed a sign urging the recognition of Palestine. We were forcibly ejected from the legislative assembly, exposing the fragile state of what's often portrayed as the "only democratic state in the region". How can officials speak about regional peace while declining to acknowledge a population deprived of fundamental freedoms and entitlements under decades-long occupation?

The Reality in the Occupied West Bank

In no place is the deceit more apparent than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of reconciliation seem distant and faint, while the frightening sounds of colonist attacks and terror persist loudly. Over 30 occurrences of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians have been documented since the announcement of the US peace proposal in September's end, featuring attacks, stealing of crops, and burning of cars and belongings.

Targeted Aggression During Agricultural Period

The increase in violence by colonists is not coincidental. This time signals the start of harvest seasons. More than a vital economic event, it represents an important social and cultural moment that demonstrates resilience under occupation. Precisely for these reasons, annually settlers attack Palestinians throughout this crucial period. During the last year's agricultural season, human rights organizations recorded 113 separate incidents of aggression, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or damage to olive groves and produce by Israeli civilians and soldiers, which took place on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian villages, towns, and communities.

Israeli military seemed to have played a greater role in obstructing the olive harvest

Yesh Din also found that "Israel's military appeared to have played a greater part in obstructing the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of cases where access to farmland was forcibly blocked, troops, border guards, and settlement civilian security coordinators were actually on site. They either directly prevented Palestinians from reaching and gathering their property, or neglected to stop colonists who threatened or attacked them.

Government Backing for Settler Activities

This comes as no shock, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for example, a particular military coordination team uprooted private olive plants of local residents, claiming lack of permits, but overlooked violations by an illegal nearby colonist encampment. Last week, the local court decided to stop all construction in the encampment, which was built on lands seized by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to settlers.

Annexation Goals and Global Reaction

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a instrument used by the administration to pursue practical annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a procession of thousands of colonists in support of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We are continuing to establish presence with our presence of the Land of Israel with many pioneers, numerous champions, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who live in this area of the land ... we must to normalise it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their supporters in the parliament are clear about their intentions and intentions. Why, then, do government officials in the west hesitate from substantial sanctions 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 permitted to go to the United Kingdom and visit the London's entertainment district, but he still maintains the governmental authority to take territories in the West Bank. Even in the declaration of sanctions, the British government emphasized they apply "personally" solely.

International Acknowledgment and Actual Situation

If the British administration acknowledges the truth of settler violence and its serious consequences on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be sold in markets and shops in the UK? If the British leader is genuine about recognition of Palestine as a sovereign entity, how can he permit the Israeli administration to violate its independence with such aggressive methods? Or was the acknowledgment an empty tactic to silence dissenting voices in the UK, a meaningless gesture only to be implemented in the relabeling of some cartographic representations?

Pathway to True Resolution

A fair peace must honor the basic entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, sovereignty, and liberty from occupation and blockade. Only when each human being's dignity between the Jordan River and sea is respected can we genuinely declare reconciliation has been achieved.

Genuine resolution requires an independent Palestinian nation next to the Israeli state: this is the sole solution that has consensus among the international community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace camp.

The former US president may have applied pressure on Netanyahu to halt the genocide, but he likely only did so because the strain of his connection with the pariah regime of the Israeli PM had become excessive. The large demonstrations across the globe for the liberation of Palestinian territories, and the persistent anti-government protests inside Israel, are the real forces behind this influence.

It is due to this enormous civil movement that a ceasefire has been agreed, the captives freed, and the people of the territory can experience safeguard from annihilation. Following the truce arrangement has been signed, it is vital to continue applying this influence. The world has turned a blind eye to the violence in Gaza for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the West Bank.