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Last week, during a combined speech by American leader Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, colleague lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I displayed a banner calling for the recognition of Palestine. We were forcibly removed from the legislative assembly, revealing the fragile state of what's often portrayed as the "only democracy in the region". How can officials talk about Middle East peace while refusing to recognize a population denied of fundamental freedoms and entitlements under decades-long military control?

The Reality in the Occupied West Bank

Nowhere is the hypocrisy more evident than in the occupied West Bank. There, words of peace sound remote and faint, while the terrifying echoes of settler violence and terror persist loudly. Over 30 occurrences of settler aggression against Palestinians have been documented since the announcement of the Trump administration's peace proposal in September's end, including physical assaults, stealing of crops, and torching of vehicles and belongings.

Systematic Aggression During Harvest Season

The increase in settler terrorism is deliberate. This time signals the start of harvest seasons. Beyond a crucial economic activity, it constitutes an important communal and cultural moment that demonstrates resilience under military rule. Exactly for these causes, annually settlers attack Palestinian farmers during this crucial time. During the last year's agricultural season, human rights organizations documented 113 distinct cases of violence, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or damage to olive groves and produce by Israeli civilians and military personnel, which took place on territories belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned villages, towns, and areas.

Israeli security forces seemed to have had a larger role in obstructing the harvesting season

The human rights group also found that "Israeli security forces appeared to have had a greater role in obstructing the olive harvest". In approximately 70% of cases where entry to farmland was violently blocked, soldiers, border police officers, and settlement security officials were actually present. They either directly prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching and harvesting their property, or failed to prevent settlers who harassed or attacked them.

Government Backing for Settler Activities

This comes as no surprise, as the head of the colonists' political movement, Bezalel Smotrich, was named as an additional official in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for instance, a particular COGAT unit removed private olive plants of local residents, citing missing documentation, but ignored infractions by an illegal adjacent settler outpost. Last week, the Jerusalem district court decided to halt all building work in the encampment, which was built on lands taken by Israeli authorities and unlawfully given to settlers.

Takeover Ambitions and International Reaction

In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a tool used by the government to achieve practical annexation. Earlier this month, Smotrich headed a march of many of colonists in support of annexation the West Bank. He was quoted as saying, "We persist to establish presence with our presence of the Land of Israel with numerous settlers, numerous heroes, and hundreds of thousands of settlers who reside in this area of the land ... we must to normalise it and make it eternal."

The settlers and their supporters in the parliament are explicit about their motives and intentions. Why, then, do government officials in the west refrain from meaningful penalties and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in the summer, but the effect of the sanction has been limited. He may not be able to go to the UK and visit the West End, but he still enjoys the governmental authority to seize territories in the West Bank. Even in the announcement of penalties, the British government highlighted they take place "in his personal capacity" solely.

International Acknowledgment and Reality

If the UK government recognizes the truth of colonist aggression and its serious implications on Palestinian life, why does it still permit settlement produce to be marketed in markets and shops in the UK? If Starmer is genuine about acknowledging Palestinian statehood as a state, how come he allow the Israeli government to violate its sovereignty with such aggressive methods? Or was the recognition an hollow ploy to silence dissenting voices in the UK, a hollow act only to be implemented in the relabeling of some maps?

Pathway to Genuine Resolution

A fair peace must respect the basic entitlements of the Palestinian population for self-recognition, independence, and freedom from military occupation and blockade. Only when every person's worth across the river and sea is honored can we genuinely declare peace has been attained.

Genuine peace requires an sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel: this is the only solution that enjoises agreement among the international community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

The former US president may have applied pressure on Netanyahu to stop the genocide, but he probably only did so because the burden of his connection with the isolated government of Netanyahu had become too great. The large demonstrations throughout the globe for the liberation of Palestine, and the persistent opposition demonstrations inside the country, are the real forces behind this influence.

It is due to this enormous public campaign that a ceasefire has been signed, the captives released, and the residents of the territory can experience protection from destruction. After the truce arrangement has been finalized, it is vital to keep applying this pressure. The world has turned a blind eye to the atrocities in the strip for too long; it must not repeat the same error in the occupied territories.