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Last Monday, during a combined address by American leader Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, fellow parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I raised a sign urging the recognition of Palestine. We were forcibly ejected from the legislative assembly, exposing the weak condition of what's frequently described as the "only democratic state in the Middle East". How can leaders speak about Middle East peace while declining to recognize a people deprived of basic freedoms and entitlements under decades-long occupation?

The Reality in the West Bank

In no place is the deceit more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of peace seem distant and faint, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and intimidation persist loudly. Over 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinians have been documented since the unveiling of the Trump administration's peace proposal in late September, including attacks, stealing of agricultural produce, and burning of cars and belongings.

Systematic Aggression During Harvest Season

The rise in settler terrorism is deliberate. This time signals the beginning of harvest seasons. More than a vital economic event, it constitutes an significant communal and cultural moment that demonstrates endurance under occupation. Exactly for these causes, annually colonists target Palestinian farmers throughout this crucial period. During the 2024 harvest season, human rights organizations recorded 113 separate incidents of violence, harassment, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive trees and produce involving settlers and military personnel, which took place on territories belonging to 51 Palestinian communities, towns, and communities.

Israeli military seemed to have had a larger role in obstructing the olive harvest

Yesh Din also found that "Israeli security forces seemed to have played a larger part in hindering the olive harvest". In about 70% of cases where entry to lands was forcibly blocked, troops, border police officers, and settlement civilian security coordinators were physically present. They either personally stopped Palestinian farmers from accessing and gathering their property, or failed to prevent settlers who harassed or attacked them.

Political Support for Colonization

This comes as no shock, as the leader of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an additional official in the Ministry of Defence responsible for 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 missing documentation, but ignored infractions by an unauthorized adjacent settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to stop all construction in the outpost, which was constructed on property seized by Israeli authorities and illegally transferred to settlers.

Annexation Ambitions and International Response

In the controlled West Bank, settler terrorism is simply a tool used by the government to pursue de-facto incorporation. Recently, Smotrich headed a march of thousands of settlers in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our presence of the territory with numerous settlers, many champions, and hundreds of thousands of colonists who live in this part of the territory ... we must to normalise it and make it eternal."

The colonists and their backers in the parliament are clear about their motives and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the west hesitate from substantial sanctions and political actions? Smotrich was penalized by the United Kingdom in June, but the impact of the penalty has been minimal. He may not be able to travel to the UK and tour the West End, but he still enjoys the ministerial power to seize lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the announcement of sanctions, the British government highlighted they take place "in his personal capacity" solely.

International Recognition and Reality

If the British administration acknowledges the truth of settler violence and its grave implications on Palestinian existence, why does it still allow settlement produce to be sold in markets and outlets in the UK? If the British leader is genuine about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a state, how come he allow the Israeli government to violate its sovereignty with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an empty ploy to silence opposition in the UK, a meaningless act only to be implemented in the relabeling of some maps?

Route Toward True Peace

A fair peace must respect the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, independence, and liberty from occupation and siege. Only when every person's worth across the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is respected can we genuinely say peace has been attained.

Genuine resolution demands an sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel: this is the sole formula that enjoises consensus among the global community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

The former US president may have inflicted influence on the Israeli leader to stop the genocide, but he probably only did so because the burden of his relationship with the pariah regime of the Israeli PM had become too great. The mass protests across the globe for the liberation of Palestinian territories, and the unwavering opposition demonstrations within the country, are the actual forces behind this pressure.

It is due to this enormous civil movement that a truce has been agreed, the captives released, and the people of Gaza can experience safeguard from destruction. Following the truce arrangement has been signed, it is crucial to keep maintaining this influence. The world has ignored to the violence in Gaza for many years; it must not make the same error in the occupied territories.