🔗 Share this article

Last week, during a combined address by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, fellow parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling for the acknowledgment of the Palestinian state. We were forcibly ejected from the legislative session, exposing the weak state of what's often portrayed as the "only democracy in the Middle East". How can leaders speak about regional peace while refusing to recognize a population denied of fundamental liberties and rights under long-standing military control?

The Reality in the Occupied West Bank

In no place is the hypocrisy more evident than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of reconciliation seem remote and weak, while the terrifying sounds of colonist attacks and intimidation persist loudly. More than 30 incidents of violence by settlers against Palestinian civilians have been recorded since the announcement of the Trump administration's peace proposal in September's end, featuring physical assaults, theft of crops, and burning of cars and belongings.

Targeted Violence During Harvest Season

The rise in settler terrorism is deliberate. This period marks the start of harvest seasons. Beyond a crucial economic activity, it constitutes an significant social and national occasion that shows endurance under military rule. Precisely for these reasons, annually colonists attack Palestinians throughout this precious period. During the 2024 harvest period, rights groups documented 113 separate cases of aggression, intimidation, harvest-thwarting, or destruction to olive groves and produce involving Israeli civilians and soldiers, which took place on lands belonging to 51 Palestinian communities, towns, and communities.

Israeli military seemed to have had a larger part in obstructing the harvesting season

The human rights group also found that "Israel's military seemed to have played a larger part in hindering the harvesting season". In approximately 70% of cases where entry to lands was violently prevented, soldiers, border guards, and settlement civilian security coordinators were actually present. They either personally prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching and gathering their property, or neglected to stop settlers who threatened or assaulted them.

Government Backing for Colonization

This comes as no shock, as the leader of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra minister in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In Umm al-Khair, for instance, a special COGAT unit uprooted private olive trees of local residents, citing lack of permits, but overlooked infractions by an unauthorized adjacent colonist encampment. Last week, the local court decided to halt all building work in the outpost, which was built on property taken by Israel and illegally given to settlers.

Takeover Goals and International Response

In the controlled West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a tool used by the administration to achieve de-facto incorporation. Earlier this month, Smotrich led a march of many of colonists in support of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as stating, "We are continuing to take hold with our presence of the territory with numerous settlers, many heroes, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who reside in this area of the territory ... we need to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The colonists and their supporters in the Knesset are clear about their intentions and goals. Why, then, do government officials in the Western nations refrain from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was penalized by the UK in June, but the effect 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 enjoys the ministerial power to take lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of penalties, the British government highlighted they take place "in his personal capacity" solely.

Global Recognition and Reality

If the British administration acknowledges the reality of colonist aggression and its grave implications on Palestinian life, why does it still allow goods from settlements to be sold in markets and outlets in Britain? If Starmer is genuine 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 hollow ploy to silence dissenting voices in the UK, a hollow act only to be realised in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Route Toward Genuine Peace

A just resolution must respect the basic rights of the Palestinian population for self-recognition, sovereignty, and liberty from military occupation and blockade. Only when each human being's worth across the river and Mediterranean Sea is honored can we truly declare peace has been attained.

True peace requires an sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel: this is the sole formula that enjoises agreement among the global community, the Palestinian leadership, and the Israeli peace advocates.

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

It is thanks to this enormous civil movement that a truce has been signed, the hostages freed, and the people of the territory can enjoy protection from destruction. After the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is vital to continue maintaining this influence. The international community has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in Gaza for many years; it must not repeat the same mistake in the West Bank.