🔗 Share this article

Last week, amid a joint speech by American leader Donald Trump and Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, fellow parliamentarian Ayman Odeh and I displayed a banner calling for the recognition of Palestine. We were violently ejected from the legislative session, exposing the weak state of what's often portrayed as the "only democratic state in the region". How can officials speak about Middle East peace while declining to acknowledge a people deprived of basic freedoms and entitlements under long-standing military control?

The Reality in the West Bank

In no place is the hypocrisy more apparent than in the controlled West Bank. There, talk of reconciliation sound distant and weak, while the terrifying sounds of settler violence and intimidation continue strongly. More than 30 incidents of settler aggression against Palestinians have been documented since the unveiling of the Trump administration's peace proposal in September's end, including physical assaults, theft of agricultural produce, and burning of vehicles and property.

Systematic Violence During Harvest Season

The increase in violence by colonists is not coincidental. This period signals the start of harvest seasons. More than a crucial economic activity, it represents an significant communal and cultural occasion that shows endurance under occupation. Precisely for these causes, annually settlers target Palestinian farmers throughout this precious period. During the last year's agricultural period, rights groups recorded 113 distinct cases of aggression, intimidation, preventing harvesting, or destruction to olive trees and crops by settlers and soldiers, which took place on territories belonging to 51 Palestinian-owned villages, municipalities, and areas.

Israeli military appeared to have played a greater part in hindering the harvesting season

The human rights group also discovered that "Israel's military seemed to have had a larger part in hindering the olive harvest". In about 70% of cases where access to farmland was forcibly blocked, soldiers, border police officers, and settlement security officials were actually on site. They either directly prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching and gathering their property, or neglected to prevent colonists who threatened or attacked them.

Political Backing for Colonization

This comes as no surprise, as the leader of the settlers' political party, Bezalel Smotrich, was appointed as an extra official in the Ministry of Defence responsible for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In one village, for instance, a particular military coordination team removed personally-owned olive trees of local residents, citing lack of permits, but ignored infractions by an illegal nearby settler outpost. Last week, the local court decided to halt all building work in the outpost, which was constructed on lands seized by Israel and unlawfully transferred to colonists.

Takeover Ambitions and Global Response

In the controlled West Bank, colonist violence is nothing but a instrument used by the administration to pursue practical annexation. Recently, Smotrich led a procession of many of settlers in favor of annexation the West Bank. He was reported as saying, "We persist to take hold with our presence of the Land of Israel with many settlers, many champions, and countless of settlers who reside in this area of the territory ... we need to normalize it and establish it permanently."

The settlers and their supporters in the parliament are clear about their intentions and intentions. Why, then, do government officials in the Western nations hesitate from meaningful sanctions and diplomatic measures? Smotrich was sanctioned by the UK in June, but the impact of the sanction has been minimal. He may not be permitted to go to the UK and tour the London's entertainment district, but he still maintains the governmental authority to take lands in the West Bank. Remarkably in the declaration of sanctions, the British government highlighted they take place "in his personal capacity" solely.

Global Acknowledgment and Reality

If the UK government acknowledges the truth of colonist aggression and its grave implications on Palestinian life, why does it still permit goods from settlements to be sold 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 breach its independence with such violent means? Or was the acknowledgment an empty tactic to shut down opposition in the UK, a hollow act only to be realised in the rebranding of some cartographic representations?

Pathway to True Peace

A fair peace must honor the basic entitlements of the Palestinian people for self-recognition, independence, and freedom from military occupation and siege. Only when each person's dignity between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is honored can we genuinely declare peace has been achieved.

True resolution demands an independent Palestinian nation next to Israel: this is the sole formula that enjoises consensus among the international community, the Palestinian national movement, and the Israeli peace advocates.

Trump may have inflicted influence on Netanyahu to stop 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 large demonstrations across the world for the liberation of Palestine, and the persistent anti-government demonstrations inside the country, are the actual forces behind this pressure.

It is thanks to this enormous public campaign that a ceasefire has been signed, the captives released, and the people of the territory can enjoy protection from annihilation. After the ceasefire agreement has been finalized, it is vital to keep maintaining this influence. The world has turned a blind eye to the violence in Gaza for many years; it must not make the same error in the occupied territories.